The
ongoing altercation between the victorious Super Falcons and the NFF
might become messy as the coaches and players risk getting banned for
life.
The Super Falcons
Authorities in Nigeria are planning to ban several Super Falcons
stars and some of the coaches may lose their jobs as fallout from the
standoff over unpaid entitlements, AfricanFootball reports.
This is coming as protesting Super Falcons players have insisted on
being paid their bonuses and allowances by the Nigeria Football
Federation and refused to hand over the cup they won.
The women’s national team have been protesting against the
non-payment of their entitlements after winning the 2016 Africa Women’s
Cup of Nations in Cameroon. They have refused to leave the Agura Hotel,
Abuja, where they were lodged since returning from the competition.
It is reported that Falcons striker Francisca Ordega will be among
the stars to be axed after she reportedly said she regrets playing for
the country. The USA-based star was later blasted by NFF president Amaju
Pinnick for her comments.
“I can categorically state here that the name Ordega will never
be heard or seen in a Super Falcons team list again. This I was told by
another top official of the football house,” a source informed.
“No less than 10 of these players could be banned for life for
ridiculing their fatherland before the international media and
henceforth, the NFF may draw up a code of conduct to guide against
future occurrences.”
“The coaches and officials are not left out as they could lose
their jobs for not standing firm in support of the federation when it
matters most.”
The Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, alongside officials of the
ministry and the NFF visited the players on Thursday to plead with them,
but the players insisted that they would only call off the protest if
given their entitlements. The women refused to listen to the Minister
insisting that they must be paid for the hard work they did.
“We are still waiting for them to bring our money because we
won’t leave here until we are paid. The minister came to see us today
(Thursday) and said they were working on our money. It’s the same old
story,” one of the players said.
The players are angry that the officials are insensitive to their
plight and are not confident they will keep to their promise of paying
them their allowances.
One of them said, “Can you imagine that the NFF president is outside the country while we have not been paid?”
The General Secretary of the federation, Mohammed Sanusi, also
pleaded with the players, saying the NFF would pay them once the funds
were raised, but some of the players, who pleaded anonymity, said they
would not leave the hotel until they were paid.
“It is a sad thing that we will work hard for the country under
tough conditions and we will still not be paid what is due to us,” one of the players said.
“We have learnt from what happened to the other teams after
their outings at the World Cup and we cannot afford to let the same
happen to us. All we want is our money and nothing more.”
Another player said, “It is very bad that none of those in
power have deemed it fit to look into our case. Is it until we take to
the streets that they will pay us? Some of are breadwinners of our
families and we need to get bills settled for the yuletide.
“The title we won gave us joy but we will be happier if they
pay us what we rightfully worked for. We don’t want much, just our
bonuses and allowances before and at the tournament, then we will leave
here.”
No comments:
Post a Comment