Siasia Hits Out At European Clubs Over Black Coaches

Siasia, who played for French club, Nantes and Lokeren in Belgium, before getting his coaching badges in the United States of America, was furious with the manner in which clubs across Europe disregard the services of black coaches.

According to him, one will hardly find a black coach working in Europe, because the clubs do not believe in them.

The 48-year old, while speaking with sport correspondents, said: “I want to believe that the reason that there are not many black coaches working in Europe is because the European clubs hardly give us a chance and they do not believe in us,” said the coach, who was severally linked with jobs abroad.

“Many of us have not only played at the highest level in Europe, but have excelled, but even when we get our coaching badges there, these clubs still don’t give us the break we need to show what we can do outside the pitch.

“We have many ex-African players with French nationality, but I can only recall (Claude) Makalele who was at Bastia and that was it. Where is John Barnes with all he achieved at Liverpool and even though he grew up in England and played for that country? He was not given much of a chance there as a coach.

“Where is another black coach, Chris Houghton? Where is he now? Many of us have good records as players and then coaches, but because the European clubs do not believe in us, we end up having to do something else. And even where they give us a chance, they are quick to dispense with us.

“Something is really not right, but I don’t want to put any name to it.”

Siasia started his coaching career in 2010 with the Super Eagles, he was fired after he failed to qualify the team for the 2012 AFCON in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

He has now been reappointed as the interim coach of the team following Sunday Oliseh’s resignation.