Adekunle Salami
Super Eagles players and Officials who prosecuted the Qatar 2022 World Cup play offs against Ghana are yet to be paid their match bonuses and allowances by the Nigeria Football Federation.
Some of the players who spoke to or correspondent noted that two weeks after the match the federation was yet to pay them any money apart from the return tickets provided for all of them,
Eagles winning bonus for every competitive match is $5,000 each while coaches get $10,000. A draw attracts $2,500 and $5,000 respectively for the players and coaches.
The players still unhappy about the ouster of the country from the Qatar 2022 World Cup are irked that their daily allowances was yet to hit their account.
“It was sad we lost but the way the set-up is now is not good. While in camp, the allowances should be given to us and we should have been given our bonuses from the result in Kumasi before the Abuja match,” one of the players said.
A backroom staff who also prefers anonymity explained that it was the Central Bank’s cashless policy that was affecting the NFF.
“To bring out dollars is not as easy as before and in recent time the federation sends the money into accounts of individuals later. Just that the mood of our failure to qualify might have affected all this time but the money will still come,” he said.
NFF’s General Secretary, Muhammed Sanusi, in his apology speech to Nigerians after the Eagles failed to pick Qatar ticket, noted that the players and officials were ‘provided with all they needed for the match.’
The Eagles stayed about 10 days in camp for the two-leg playoffs with two draws recorded. Though it was not enough to qualify Nigeria, it is expected that the reward template will be retained for the playoffs.
