Six arms of the national teams have been dealt a huge blow after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced on Thursday that they were no longer entitled to match bonuses.
In its communiqué after a board meeting presided over by the president of the federation Amaju Pinnick in Jos on Wednesday, the NFF also stated that only the Super Eagles and Super Falcons “will be entitled to bonus payments per match”.
The federation firmly ruled out the Flying Eagles (U20), Golden Eaglets (U17), the beach soccer team and the Under-23 team as well as the Falconets (U20 women’s team), Flamingos (U17 women’s team) from any match bonuses during tournaments.
The communiqué read, “The committee reiterated that henceforth, only the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons will be entitled to bonus payments per match.
“Players, coaches and backroom staff of other (national) teams will earn daily allowances, approved bonuses at the end of successful qualifying campaigns and approved allowances (including daily allowances) at championships.”
The body promised that the Eagles would get adequate preparations for the Russia 2018 World Cup.
Nigeria sealed their place at the football’s showpiece after beating Zambia 1-0 in Uyo on October 7 despite their last qualifying game against Algeria in Bilda next month.
The communiqué added, “The committee pledged to do all that is necessary to ensure adequate preparations of the Super Eagles to set a new record of performance for an African country at the World Cup in Russia in 2018, to the glory of Nigerian and African football.
“The board resolved to ensure that negotiations with the players to ensure that World Cup bonuses are firmly concluded and an agreement signed before the end of this year, for the sake of stable preparations and credible participation at the World Cup without any distractions.”
The board approved the recommendation of the Technical and Development Committee for the appointment of Randy Waldrum as manager of the Super Falcons.
Meanwhile, the NFF Annual General Assembly in Jos on Thursday approved the federation’s 2018 budget of N6,382,500,310, with a budget deficit of N3.32bn.
In a communiqué, the Congress approved NFF’s Financial Statement for the year 2016 and the 2018 budget as proposed.
It read, “The federation’s total budget for the year 2018 activities is the sum of N6,382,500,310, while the guaranteed revenues from sponsors and government subvention are the sum of N3,062,500,310.
“This has left a shortfall of the sum of N3,320,000,000, which the Federation has to work to augment through sponsorships and special interventions.’’
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