Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung has
hinted at shady deals behind the country’s football team being stranded
for several days at their training base in Atlanta, USA, before they
finally made their way to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
It is expected that after the Rio Olympics a high-powered probe
will be initiated by the minister to uncover the truth behind the drama,
which caused Nigeria international shame.
The Dream Team only flew into Brazil barely seven hours before their opening match against Japan.
And Dalung said on a television interview on Thursday that the
episode revealed “quiet dirty” details which those involved cannot
defend themselves against when they are confronted with.
“The Atlanta event was quiet dirty and some of the actors
(involved) cannot stand before Nigeria (to answer to these charges),”
Dalung alleged.
“The event of Atlanta was another attempt to rip the country off.”
Dalung said he has a receipt from the Nigeria Football Federation
(NFF) for the charter flight that eventually flew the team from Atlanta
to Manaus when he alleged that Delta Airlines confirmed to his officials
that the flight was their own “contribution” to the country’s Olympic
campaign.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has replied describing the
insinuations by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon
Dalung in a television interview that the issue of the Dream Team being
stranded in Atlanta, USA, prior to Rio 2016 as hoax.
Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Honourable
Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande, who is a member of the House of Representatives,
said the entire NFF board was shocked by the remarks of the Minister.
He stated that the NFF President, Mr Amaju Pinnick, had been giving
members of the board updates of useful meetings he has been having with
the Sports Minister since he arrived in Brazil.
“The NFF Board and Management are taken aback by these
insinuations. The NFF President has been telling us of meeting between
him and the Minister on how to avoid the kind of situation we got into
in the USA in the future. So, the Minister’s latest statements are a
bombshell.
“We are not openly challenging the Minister, but we must set
the records straight. To start, we do not have any partnership with
Delta Airlines, a company that we owe much gratitude for the way it came
to the rescue to airlift our team to Brazil. The names of NFF’s
partners and sponsors are known to the public.
“Secondly, the NFF is not aware of any receipt that was
presented to the Minister for airlifting the U23 team from Atlanta to
Manaus. I am aware that the Minister himself requested for the phone
number of our FIFA Match Agent (Mr Jairo Pachon, who has been working
with the NFF since 2009) when everybody became desperate about how the
team would go to Brazil. The NFF President gave him the phone number,
and the Minister himself asked Mr Pachon to go ahead and charter an
aircraft, and Pachon reverted that the amount would be $174,000, as
against the $300,000 that was bandied earlier.
However, the money did not reflect in the airline company’s
bank account within the deadline it gave to us, so the service was
cancelled. We insist that Mr. Pachon acted in the best interest of
Nigeria.”
Yahaya-Kwande also defended Nigeria’s U-23 team’s list to Rio 2016.
“Which persons did we increase the team with? There were two
alternate players, the team media officer, the team coordinator, the
team’s equipment manager and the team’s technical officer, who have
always been part of the team’s crew, and who by global standard are
required by the team. When it was made clear that they would no longer
be taken care of, we told them to return to Nigeria.
“As I speak with you, the only NFF top officials at the
Olympics are the NFF Technical Director and the NFF President. I would
like to be proved wrong on this.“The NFF Board has always displayed
integrity in all its financial dealings and have always communicated to
the Minister on every financial transaction and detail. On this too, we
would like to be proved wrong,” he said.
Dalung, had on Friday said the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF)
lied over the claim of chartering a Delta Airline jet to convey the
Dream Team VI to Brazil from Atlanta.
The team arrived Brazil a few hours to their first game in the competition as a result of logistical challenges.
But speaking in an interview with Channels TV, Dalung described the “theory of the Dream Team being stranded” as a hoax.
The minister said the federation lied to have paid Delta Airline to
fly the U-23 team, whereas the airline did not collect a
dime. According to him, the theory of the chartered flight was another
attempt to rip the country off. All these are unsubstantiated
allegations.
He said, “As I stand today, we have a receipt from an agent
that NFF claimed to have chartered a flight from Atlanta to Manaus on
the 4th of August.
“Yet, we had Delta airline which I have confirmed through the
person I sent to Delta office that the flight from Atlanta to Manaus was
their contribution to help the team get to Brazil.
“That they also air lifted them from Nigeria to Atlanta.
“It means that there was this existing partnership between Nigeria Football Federation and Delta Airline.”
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