By Victor Kanayo
There are indications that Nigeria’s Super Falcons may not honour their first match at the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup following declaration by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that they won’t be paid match bonuses.
The move by the players who kicked off a closed camping at Gold Coast, became evident after NFF General-Secretary Dr. Mohammed Sanusi categorically stated that since FIFA is meant to give each participating footballer will earn $30,000.
Reports said before the Nigerian contingent left Abuja for the Women’s World Cup in Australia on July 2, Sanusi told the players in a meeting that the federation would not pay match bonuses because FIFA had already announced that each of them would receive the huge cash in the group stage of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
It was also announced that the players would cease to get 30% of the $1,560,000 FIFA grants to all member associations for the World Cup competition’s group stage.
Players’ Demand
According to Punch, one of the players hinted, “We are going ahead to press for our demands. We are ready to go as far as missing our first game against Canada July 21 because this has to stop”a senior player told newsmen.
“On Wednesday night, we held a meeting where we agreed that we were going to find out if what we were asking for is legitimate, and that if it’s legitimate, we will press for our demands. It was what was agreed. The next meeting will be after we get the information we need and then the protest will start.”
She continued, “The General Secretary came for the meeting clutching so many papers; he told us that we won’t be paid match bonuses at the World Cup because FIFA had already given each player $30,000 for the group stage. He also said we won’t get 30 per cent from the $1,560,000 FIFA would give the NFF.
“We were shocked, team morale went down immediately because we couldn’t believe what the man was saying.”
Super Falcons Previous Revolt
This will not be the first time the Falcons are involved in a bonus dispute with the NFF at an international tournament.
After winning the 2004 WAFCON in South Africa, the record African champions refused to travel back home, insisting they were paid their bonuses first.
Also, they conducted a sit-in protest at their Abuja hotel in 2016, after returning from Cameroon with an eighth WAFCON trophy, to press their requests for each player to be paid $16,500 after their victory.
Desire Oparanozie, the team’s captain, was stripped of her captaincy and expelled after leading a bonus protest at the 2019 World Cup in France, while the squad also boycotted training sessions before their third-place match against Zambia at last year’s WAFCON in Morocco over the same issue.
Waldrum Continious Drumbeat
Meanwhile, the team’s head coach Randy Waldrum has again lashed out at NFF for refusing to deplore FIFA’s huge money given to each Federation to prepare their teams ahead of the World.
Waldrum also accused NFF of owing him seven months salary.
In reply, NFF Communications Director Ademola Olajire labelled the coach as incompetent to handle the Nigerian team.
The Federation had reportedly queried Waldrum after his initial outburst last week.
Like Super Falcons, their Canadian counterparts who are incidentally in the same group at the World Cup have been locked in disagreement with the Canada Football Federation over non-payment of allowances.
