Once again, Nigeria were the focus of global attention at a major tournament for the long reasons after the Super Falcons staged a sit-in protest to demand payment of outstanding bonuses.
After their defeat by Germany on Saturday night, the players met and demanded payment of their outstanding bonuses, some dating back to 2016.
By morning, and following meetings with the NFF officials who were with them in France, Aisha Falode and Suleiman Kwande, the players boarded their buses to the airport.
WHAT WAS BEING OWED?
According to the players, they wanted outstanding payment of two match bonuses. The first was from a home game against Senegal in 2016 and the second was another home game, this time against Gambia in 2018.
This was in addition to the daily allowance for the five additional days they spent in France, as well as their 30 percent share of the $1 million participation fee from FIFA.
The main bone of contention were those bonuses from 2016 and 2018. According to the players, they were due N1million for each game for a total of N2million, but were only paid half.
WHAT DOES THE NFF SAY?
The NFF agrees that the players were paid N1m and argue that that is exactly what they are due and not N2 million.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick says the confusion arises out of players expected thatchy were to be paid in US dollars, but under the foreign exchange restrictions of the current administration, that is no longer the case as even the Super Eagles are being paid in Naira for home games
“As far as we are concerned that is a non issue as the bonuses have been paid. The problem is that the players wanted to be paid bonuses for home matches in dollars, but that is no longer the rule under this current government.”
In effect, the players were calculating the amount based on US dollars while the NFF paid in naira.
As to their share of the FIFA participation fee, Pinnick says that will be paid once the NFF receives payment from FIFA, which would not be until after the tournament, around September.
The camp allowances for the five additional days as well as the $4000 match bonus for their win over South Korea are expected to be paid on Monday.
SO WHAT WAS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?
It all comes down to mistrust and miscommunication. For one, it should have been made clear to the players that their home bonuses are not just in naira, but also the exact rate when converted into naira.
The players thought they were due N2million (perhaps from using black market conversion rates), while the NFF had it as N1million.
Second, trust issues remain as the players do not seem to believe that they will be paid unless they make a right stink. Apparently, some of their colleagues from that 2016 team had not received their money.
However, the issues have now been resolved, the air has been cleared and the players are expected back in Nigeria on Monday.
Mr. Colin Udoh, you judge people by your past experiences with them. Fully agree with them due to what has happened in time past. They had a decent performance at the FIFA WWC.
ReplyDeleteThank you. You make a good point
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