Players of the senior women football team, Super Falcons, were on Tuesday paid a ‘meager’ N10,000 as ‘transport fare’ after being decamped from their Abuja camp.
This was after the girls booked a ticket to the 2016 African Women’s Nations Cup slated for Cameroun in November.
The Coach Florence Omagbemi-led Falcons defeated the Teranga Lionesses of Senegal 2-0 in the second leg, final round at the National Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday and advanced 3-1 on aggregate to Cameroun 2016 AWC.
However, as the players and officials express disappointment over the ‘meager’ N10,000 given to them by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after qualifying for the Nations Cup, a former handler of the team, Coach Godwin Izilien has begged the girls and Nigerians to see reason with the NFF.
Izilien has told the girls not to feel too bad, adding, “The NFF is in serious crisis and I want the players and their officials to understand.”
Izilien, who led the Falcons to win the AWC title in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2004 told the Guardian yesterday, “Apart from the crisis, the NFF is seriously broke.
“My appeal is for the girls and their handlers to take the NFF for what it is now. I am very sure things will improve soon.”
The players were decamped on Tuesday evening and they were given N10,000 that was supposed to get them to their various destinations.
It was not clear if the nine foreign-based players who participated in the Falcons’ qualifying series received their return flight ticket fares.
On their way to Dakar for the first leg against the Teranga Lionesses last week, the players were reported to have spent two days, due to what one of the players described as ‘poor’ flight arrangement.
“We spent five hours in Abuja waiting for the flight. We had a stopover in Ghana, where we spent four hours and we also had a stopover in The Gambia before we arrived in Dakar in the morning of the following day. It was the same ‘Israelite’ journey on our way back to Nigeria. The male team will always fly on chartered plane. No problem,” the player lamented.
An official of the NFF (name withheld) yesterday put the blame on ‘poor’ financial stand of the NFF.
The official said, “Our president (Pinnick Amaju) borrowed money to charter a plan that convened the Super Eagles to Alexandra for the return leg of the AFCON qualifier against Egypt.
“The Sports Ministry is yet to pay him. He (Pinnick) also borrowed money to foot the bill of the Super Falcons journey to Dakar for the first leg.
“We are yet to get the money from the Sports Ministry. Things are so bad at the moment and Nigerians should understand our plight.”
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