The confusion over the fate of Nigeria coach Berti Vogts has deepened, after the telecommunications firm responsible for his US$50,000 monthly salary denied FA officials' claim the company was delaying his sack.

"They don't need our permission to do that. We did not hire Vogts,'' the local Vanguard newspaper quoted Nigeria's telecommunications company Globacom as saying Wednesday.

''Ours is to help Nigerian football and one of our numerous ways of doing so is to pay the salary of the foreign coach," the company said .

Since Nigeria's poor performance at the just-concluded 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, calls for the sack of the 61-year-old German coach have become louder.

But the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has been waffling on the issue, saying it was delaying Vogts' sack pending the green-light from Globacom, after an initial decision to give the coach the boot.

The telecommunications company however confirmed reports that the coach has been given the mandatory 30-day notice before he can be fired.

"They have notified us (of the decision to sack Vogts) but their letter did not elicit anything from us. It did make any request. It was a mere notification and we have equally noted their notification on Vogts. But they certainly do not need us to end anybody's contract,'' the company was quoted as saying.

After escaping a first round elimination in Ghana, Nigeria lost to the hosts at the quarter-final stage, making it the worst performance in the competition by the Super Eagles in more than 20 years.