Days after the exit of the Nigerian national men’s football team “Super Eagles” head coach José Peseiro, whose contract ends in February 2024 after taking the Super Eagles to the final stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Côte d’Ivoire, a west African Nations.
The Nigerian Football Federation announced its search for a new coach to replace José Peseiro as head coach of the Super Eagles.
The Claim
Following two friendly matches where ex-Super Eagles player Finidi George led the Nigerian team, the claim emerged that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had signed Portuguese professional football manager José Mourinho. The claim was posted by a Facebook user named Mc Emzzy, who references NFF TV, Fabrizio Romano, and Sky Sports News as his sources.
However, three days after the post by Mc Emzzy, which got 370 likes, 227 comments, and 30 shares, a survey by Daily Episode on Facebook showed that several people copied and pasted the same contents, which made it viral on the platform, among numerous others.
The Findings
Findings by Daily Episode show that the claim is false, as searches through the NFF website https://thenff.com/ and social media handles on Facebook and X revealed that the NFF had no issue with such a statement or published anything in relation to the Portuguese professional football manager.
Also, a search through the NFF TV, Fabrizio Romano, and Sky Sports News handles has no such stories on their handles or platforms.
A search through Tineye also revealed that the image used by Mc Emzzy was first published on September 11, 2021.
The Verdict
The claim that the Nigerian football federation has signed Portuguese professional football manager José Mourinho as the head coach of the Super Eagles is misleading; the NFF is still in search of the team manager and has not announced any engagement regarding the claim.
LIKE & FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, X, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN & YOUTUBE
