Super Falcons players reportedly boycotted training yesterday due to unpaid bonuses ahead of tomorrow’s 2022 Women Africa Cup Of Nations third-place match against the Copper Queens of Zambia in Morocco.
It was gathered yesterday that “the women’s national team players failed to show up for their training to protest the non-payment of some of their entitlements.”
Some of the players also confirmed that they had not received any match bonuses since the African Women’s Cup of Nations qualification matches.
The team is demanding to be paid a bonus of at least $10,000 each for their run at this year’s WAFCON in Morocco.
By their agreement with the NFF, a win in the group will earn each player $3,000, while a player will also be paid $4,000 for victory in the quarterfinal.
The nine-time African champions won two group games against Botswana and Burundi to give each player $6,000, while the 1-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinal guaranteed a player $4,000.
However, Toyin Ibitoye , a Special Adviser Multimedia to the Minister of Youth and Sports Development responded via Social Media platform twitter to insinuations that the ministry was yet to release funds to offset the Falcons’ allowances.
“The issues are being resolved. The NFF has assured the team they will get all that is due them,” Ibitoye tweeted. “The sports ministry has presented NFF’s request for financial intervention to the relevant quarter and it’s receiving urgent attention”
“The Sport Ministry doesn’t pay bonuses,” he added.
He continued: “The most important thing right now is that the issue is being resolved. The processes for receiving funds from the Government take time and the team now understands this. Both the Sports Ministry and the NFF are working to ensure things move at a faster pace.”