The Dutchman, who clocks 74 on Saturday, is in Nigeria as part of his birthday celebrations. He arrived in the country during the week with a crew from The Netherlands national television, VPRO, for a documentary.
Our correspondent learnt that Westerhof had led the TV crew to film the football pitch – where he won many games – for the documentary of his birthday but were denied access to the place.
It was learnt that the Dutch contingent was not allowed in because of the poor state of the pitch.
A stadium official, who pleaded anonymity, said, "They (Dutchmen) came to the stadium because of the main bowl but we were told not to allow Westerhof into the stadium because of the bad state of the place. The senior officials feel that if the stadium is used for the documentary, it will paint the country in a bad light."
The TV crew eventually could not shoot and had to leave for their hotel in Ikeja frustrated.
The Manager, National Stadium, Lagos, Abolore Alanamu, confirmed the development.
However, Alanamu said the stadium authorities got a letter from Westerhof requesting to use the main bowl very late.
"If somebody like that is coming, the headquarters should be aware. The letter was brought on Wednesday and it was late for an event that will take place today (Friday),"he told our correspondent on the telephone.
The letter has to be processed for necessary approval, so we have sent it to the Abuja and we are expecting the approval."
Westerhof managed the Eagles from 1989 to 1994, winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 and also helping Nigeria qualify for their first ever World Cup outing same year.
He is regarded as the best coach ever to have managed the Eagles. During his time, Nigeria rose to fifth position- the highest ever- in the FIFA rankings and were named second Most Entertaining Team at the 1994 World Cup behind eventual winners Brazil.
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