Sven-Goran Eriksson’s agent denied reports that the former England coach is in talks to take charge of Nigeria’s national soccer team.
Reports that the Swede talked with Nigerian officials about the job ten days ago were sparked by comments made on Swedish radio by Tord Grip, who was one of his assistants with England.
“They have met, I know that much, but I don’t know exactly what those discussions were about,” Grip said on Wednesday. “I assume they were about the Nigerian national team.”
The soccer magazine Kick Off Nigeria quoted Eriksson on its Website as saying he would be willing to accept a large pay cut in order to coach the national team.
Eriksson’s agent, Athole Still, said the Swede met one of the Nigerian officials but it was purely by chance and they didn’t talk about the job.
“Today he is linked with Nigeria, tomorrow it will be someone else. There has been no truth in any of it,” Still said. “It was a totally chance meeting.
“They happened to be in the same place at the same time and had a chat.
“Sven told me he had bumped into him and they chatted. But there were no talks or discussions whatsoever about him taking over.”
Eriksson has been out of work since stepping down as England coach after the World Cup, where the team were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Portugal.
On Tuesday, English club Newcastle denied reports they wanted to hire Eriksson and Still has also denied reports the Swede was chasing coaching roles at West Ham and Inter Milan.