It took the intervention and assurance from President Goodluck Jonathan that the players of the Super Eagles will be paid all their fees by the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, before the players agreed to travel to Brasilia, Friday, for their World Cup second round game with France.
The team opted for a meeting with NFF officials over payment of their appearance fees instead of training on Thursday.
The President was brought into the impasse by sports minister Tamuno Danagogo after federation head Aminu Maigari reported the situation to him.
In a phone call to the players who shared their fears, President Jonathan assured them that they would be paid all that they are entitled to.
They then agreed to continue playing for their fatherland.
The players took the flight on Friday.
Similar impasse over appearance fees hampered the Black Stars of Ghana who were knocked out of the tournament on Thursday. Nigeria and Algeria are the only teams from Africa left in the mundial. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
It is quite unfortunate that the NFF is a cheap black mail to Nigeria grabbing the WC trophy in Brazil. In event like this, any action that demoralizes the players for one minute does have spiral effect at the end. Instead of discussing more and more motivating approaches to the players, they were left to be begging for their primary entitlement. May be NFF wants players to go on strike before they will be paid.
ReplyDeletePlease and please, Keshi should not threaten those boys in any way as far as they are asking for their legitimate rights. All the big men that want to exploit the team to get richer themselves have influence in sharing Nigerian oil money. These boys has their oil well in their legs and brains (Skill). Let no one deprive them of happiness.
Also, Keshi should bench Mikel Obi as he is not making any contribution to the success of the team in the field. He is not even ashamed of Messi's talent. Recall both played under17 together years back
Let there be change in Nigeria's way of doing if we hope to progress further in this tournament.
let them not play. greedy politicians, greedy work force, greedy religious leaders, greedy footballers all in one country. May God always help.
ReplyDelete..if the players are selected from "greedy" people "all in one country",,why do expect them not to be greedy?..are they not from the same country and have the same characteristics?...but seriously, l don't blame the players for fighting for their rightful dues..if they didin't they might never get paid..unlike the officials who always take care of themselves!..FIFA pays $8million to each participating team and more for the 16 teams who got to the nest round...so why are the boys not getting their bonus/dues...
Delete