What appears another embarrassing moment for Nigerian football may be at foot, unless urgent steps are taken to avert an alleged plan by players and officials of the Super Falcons to stage ‘a no pay, no work’ protest at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) secretariat in Abuja.
The Super Falcons are in Abuja preparing for defence of the African Nations Cup (AWC) title in Cameroun later this month. There were reports last week that the players were planning to shun the tournament due to failure on the part of the NFF to settle their bonuses and allowances for the two-legged matches against the Teranga Lionesses of Senegal, which gave Nigeria the qualification ticket in April.
But an NFF official, who spoke with The Guardian on the issue yesterday said that the federation was ‘so broke’ saying: “If the players are complaining over non-payment of bonuses and allowances, what will they say about the head coach and her two assistants, who have not been paid their salary since they were appointed in March.”
“I am sorry to reveal this, but there is really nothing to hide about it because things are really looking bad for the NFF in terms of finances. We have so many things to do, but money is not forthcoming. I pity our president (Amaju Pinnick) because he is the one shouldering the burden,” the source said.
The source further hinted that like the players, the coaches are equally grumbling silently over the non-payment of their eight months salary, adding that some top officials of the NFF were ‘avoiding’ them.
“I was with the team during a training session at the Abuja National Stadium on Tuesday and I really pity the situation of the coaches. I was told the head coach (Florence Omagbemi) is looking for money to bury her late father. How can someone work for eight months without payment? Amaju is looking for money to send the U-20 team (Falconets) to the World Cup in Papa New Guinea and for the Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifier against Algeria. I just hope things are sorted out for the Falcons soon because the body language of the players and their coaches shows that they won’t go to Cameroun if they are not settled,” the source added.
credit: guardian