Former Super Eagles’ defender, Benedict Iroha has commended the late Rashidi Yekini for waving off salaries paid to him while he plied his trade with Gatewawy Football Club, Abeokuta.
In the opinion of the 42-year Aba-born coach, playing the game of football as a pleasure for a club amounts to losing business opportunities that abound in the round leather game.
Iroha told Nationsports"While Yekini played for Gateway FC, he told the management to give his salary out to the less privileged as a form of charity on his part. I will never do that. I mean play football for free for a club."
Iroha who confirmed that it was only a few players in the 1994 set that were in the mafia, however, denied Yekini was played out of the team by some members of the Eagles’ 1994 squad.
" I don't believe there was a mafia in the Super Eagles then. Normally when the likes of Amuneke passed the ball to Yekini, he scored. Yekini was the highest goal scorer.
Just like what happens in Barcelona, the ball is passed to Messi, and he brings in the goals, and they are happy because it is a team work. The only Mafia we had, we had six of us that were six, captains. Keshi was the chief captain, we had me, Rufai, Ike, Eguavoen and two others. I remembered the time, Yekini came in to camp in 1993, he came to my room and I told him we were playing as a team and not as individual so there was nothing like mafia in the 1994 team, "Iroha said.
The former Assistant Eagles Coach, also denied the popular beliefs in some quarters that the ‘godfather’ syndrome has become a menace in the national teams
Iroha said: "There is nothing like that, it is an open team. If you play well, you will get called."
On whether Nigerian Coaches are agents to their players, Iroha said: " I don’t think it is true, I have been there, and I have trained the junior team, what I did when I was coaching with Yemi Tella was like, guiding,
most times people come to us(coaches) because they want security, mine is to recommend. If I see a good player as very good as a coach, I will tell the agent I know the boy is good, I will tell the agent to go and meet the parent."

While Yekini played for Gateway FC, he told the management to give his salary out to the less privileged as a form of charity on his part.

eeeeyaaaa
what a rare guy, what a heart.