Lagos — Super Eagles coach, Amodu Shaibu, has threatened to sue an Abuja-based weekly newspaper, AbujaToday, unless the paper retracts what he termed "defamatory publication" against his person.

The tabloid in an editorial captioned: "Please Sack this Man Now", wrote that Amodu was not good enough for Nigeria and must be sacked immediately otherwise Nigeria ran the risk of performing badly at the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup Finals, all coming up next year.

The newspaper contended amongst other things that Shaibu Amodu was not the right man for the Nigeria job, going on to question his original appointment, in the first place. The write up based the newspaper's disagreement with Amodu's appointment on the fact that it finds his pedigree and antecedents not meriting such a high-profile job.

Amodu asked that the story be retracted, and a public apology in the same manner the original publication was made, be carried or it would be risking a court action.

A letter written to publishers of the newspaper by the law firm of Festus Keyamo on behalf of Amodu - dated November 17, 2009 - says that by the publication, the esteem of his client has been lowered before right-thinking members of the society.

The letter also says the publication had exposed Amodu to hatred, contempt and ridicule because his friends, family members, fans, players, colleagues, employer and other football clubs have shunned and avoided him.

It further alleged that he has been disparaged while his reputation and career have been seriously damaged, resulting in psychological trauma and discomfort.

However, the publishers of the tabloid have vowed to stand by their story, insisting that they are justified in running the story as Amodu is a public servant who is accountable to the Nigerian public and that its opinion represents the views of majority of Nigerians.

A spokesperson for the publishing house Mr Daniel Balogun said to prove that majority of Nigerians want the national coach out, it was embarking on collecting a million signatures from Nigerian soccer fans for the purpose.