The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to pay allowances and bonuses to the Flying Eagles players and coaches right from the CAF U-20 AFCON in Egypt to the FIFA World Cup in Argentina. The team, led by Ladan Bosso posted the best performance by an African team when they were knocked out by the Korean Republic in the quarterfinal of Argentina 2023.
A source, who told SCORE- Nigeria: “The players have yet to be paid allowances for 28 days – 15 days at the AFCON and 13 days at the World Cup. “That alone amounts to $2800 per player. “This also does not take into account the $5000 promised each player for qualifying for the World Cup as well as bonuses for going as far as the quarterfinal of the World Cup.”
It was further learnt that the bonus for qualifying for the AFCON from the WAFU qualifiers in May last year in Niger Republic has also not been paid. Another source said the players are most disappointed by how they have been treated by the NFF. “They said this is not the way to treat players who sacrificed a great deal to represent their fatherland,” he said.
“Many of them said they had expected the NFF President Ibrahim Gusau to make their welfare a top priority but that has not been the case. “They said this is not encouraging and can only impact on them negatively.” The NFF is heavily indebted to various suppliers, from hotels to travel companies.
They have also failed to pay the coaches of the national team including Jose Peseiro, who heads the Super Eagles, for many months. That would explain the shock withdrawal of the country from next month’s WAFU U20 Championship in Cote d’Ivoire.