The Nigeria Football Federation officials have confirmed that the 2018 World Cup allowances agreed with the Super Eagles is now ready as preparation commences in earnest.
Brila.net exclusively gathered that the early release of $2m from the world football governing body, FIFA has helped in a long way in making the NFF meet all financial obligations to the players ahead of time.
Confirming this development to www.brila.net, the NFF President, Amaju Melvin Pinnick said the federation is excited that the strong effort they put in at ensuring a distraction-free campaign yielded positive results.
“We are glad that our efforts and relationship with FIFA has always paid off. We were also then able to raise $800,000 in addition which gave the federation the exact amount needed to prosecute the World Cup and the remaining pre-World Cup games.
“We are confident now that without any distraction, the players can concentrate with Nigerians and fans of the Eagles see the most organised outing so far.”
The NFF signed an agreement with the players just before their friendly match against Argentina played in Russia which the Super Eagles won 4-2.
Apart from securing the needed cash for the Russia 2018 outing, the NFF is also ready with the appearance fees for the games against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Port Harcourt on May 28 and the June 2 friendly against the Three Lions of England at Wembley Stadium.
The current NFF board led by Pinnick has in the last three years worked at eliminating all forms of disagreements and distractions with the players.
The big competitions and particularly the World Cup had in the past years created embarrassments for Nigeria with the players and the NFF publicly disagreeing over allowances and bonuses.
The Eagles created international shame for Nigeria in Namibia enroute to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil when they refused to board their flight.
The ‘money palava’ with the NFF hit the height when the players went on strike by boycotting training before the second round match against France which Nigeria lost and left the tournament.
Similar situation greeted the Nigeria/Denmark match at the France ’98 World Cup which saw the Eagles losing 4-1 despite the favourites toga they won onto the pitch.
COMMENTS