REVEALED: NFF RECEIVES MONEY FROM FG, FIFA AND SPONSORS FOR TOURNAMENTS, NO JUSTIFICATION FOR OWING FALCONET AND CO- SOLOMON DALUNG
The members of the National U-20 team that represented Nigeria at the FIFA U-20 Female World Cup in France 2018 has called out on Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay their outstanding allowances and match bonuses two years after the tournament.
This passionate appeal is not a first of its kind as numerous of such attempt was made in the past but watered down by the leadership of Amaju Melvin Pinnick led NFF due to indifferent response or blatant denial of owing the team.
The issue was brought to fore again by players and officials of the Falconets team who contacted ace journalist Wale Ajayi, known for his advocacy for justice and equity within Sport circle and unanimously bestowed with the title of Senior Advocate for Journalists (SAJ), to come to their rescue, reach out with appropriate authorities to find an amicable solution to the matter.
In his charismatic approach, Adewale Ajayi communicated with the former Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung who was the Minister at the material time of the incident in France in 2018.
Addressing journalists on NSM Re-branded platform, Dalung berate the leadership of the NFF for reneging from their initial promise to sort the players bonuses and allowance two years after the event. The former minister revealed that after meeting with the players in Austria he asked the NFF to sort out the players but was told there was no money, that FIFA don’t take responsibility of Junior teams.
"In 2018 I visited the Falconets while they were in camp in Austria preparing for the World Cup in France I had one on one meeting with the team officials and players.
In our discussion they opened up to me about their problems majorly robust around the non-payment of their camping allowances and bonuses, as at then they told me that since they were mobilised to come which was around May 2018 till when they went on an international camping in Austria, they have not been paid a dime narrating their predicament. They went further to tell me that in fact sometime it get so bad that they will have to rely on the coaching officials for assistance to buy toiletries.
Dalung with the U-20 team in France.
"It was at that point I became emotional imagining if my daughter was playing for the National team and find herself in a situation where she has to share certain information which should ordinarily be private to her with an official so she can solve her problem, So that was when I had to bring out the little money I had on me and decided to donate it to them to solve their welfare.
"In Austria the NFF head of football units was there and I enquire if she was there with money she said yes, she was with some money but I think it was not going to be up to anything serious, so I decided to assure them (the team) that when I come back, I will make sure I get to the root of the problem
"When I got back to Nigeria I took up the issue with the NFF which they promised they were going to pay and they said that the team is a Junior team so it was out of the teams the international body takes responsibilities of.
"So that lingers on till they got to France and even in France the issue came up again I had to again direct the NFF to try to sort out the issue and they kept promising, they didn’t do anything about it. When I got back to my office (in Nigeria), the NFF came complaining of financial crisis having no money then,q I had to direct that the part of the FIFA World cup money that was kept by the Ministry, seven hundred million naira, should be released to them so they can addressed the problem of the team and also the Super Falcons who were on their way to the World cup.
"But sadly as am talking to you the team have not been paid even when I left office I exchanged communications with the NFF President on WhatsApp, when the team captain kept mounting pressure on me that they have not been paid, I still communicate with the captain last week and she reaffirms that they were still unpaid.
Paucity of funds in NFF can better be explained by them but I think NFF had no reason to suffer such. Every football activity is funded by three sources; the federal government will fund it, FIFA will fund it if it's international tournament, State and Sponsors will also fund it. So one wonders why there is this much ado about paucity of fund in NFF.
Throughout my tenure as the Minister of Youth and Sports Development every single activity of NFF was funded by the federal government. NFF will present a budget which will cover all overheard expenditure from the beginning to the end of the competition and these funds are always released.
This passionate appeal is not a first of its kind as numerous of such attempt was made in the past but watered down by the leadership of Amaju Melvin Pinnick led NFF due to indifferent response or blatant denial of owing the team.
The issue was brought to fore again by players and officials of the Falconets team who contacted ace journalist Wale Ajayi, known for his advocacy for justice and equity within Sport circle and unanimously bestowed with the title of Senior Advocate for Journalists (SAJ), to come to their rescue, reach out with appropriate authorities to find an amicable solution to the matter.
In his charismatic approach, Adewale Ajayi communicated with the former Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung who was the Minister at the material time of the incident in France in 2018.
Addressing journalists on NSM Re-branded platform, Dalung berate the leadership of the NFF for reneging from their initial promise to sort the players bonuses and allowance two years after the event. The former minister revealed that after meeting with the players in Austria he asked the NFF to sort out the players but was told there was no money, that FIFA don’t take responsibility of Junior teams.
"In 2018 I visited the Falconets while they were in camp in Austria preparing for the World Cup in France I had one on one meeting with the team officials and players.
In our discussion they opened up to me about their problems majorly robust around the non-payment of their camping allowances and bonuses, as at then they told me that since they were mobilised to come which was around May 2018 till when they went on an international camping in Austria, they have not been paid a dime narrating their predicament. They went further to tell me that in fact sometime it get so bad that they will have to rely on the coaching officials for assistance to buy toiletries.
"It was at that point I became emotional imagining if my daughter was playing for the National team and find herself in a situation where she has to share certain information which should ordinarily be private to her with an official so she can solve her problem, So that was when I had to bring out the little money I had on me and decided to donate it to them to solve their welfare.
"In Austria the NFF head of football units was there and I enquire if she was there with money she said yes, she was with some money but I think it was not going to be up to anything serious, so I decided to assure them (the team) that when I come back, I will make sure I get to the root of the problem
"When I got back to Nigeria I took up the issue with the NFF which they promised they were going to pay and they said that the team is a Junior team so it was out of the teams the international body takes responsibilities of.
"So that lingers on till they got to France and even in France the issue came up again I had to again direct the NFF to try to sort out the issue and they kept promising, they didn’t do anything about it. When I got back to my office (in Nigeria), the NFF came complaining of financial crisis having no money then,q I had to direct that the part of the FIFA World cup money that was kept by the Ministry, seven hundred million naira, should be released to them so they can addressed the problem of the team and also the Super Falcons who were on their way to the World cup.
"But sadly as am talking to you the team have not been paid even when I left office I exchanged communications with the NFF President on WhatsApp, when the team captain kept mounting pressure on me that they have not been paid, I still communicate with the captain last week and she reaffirms that they were still unpaid.
Paucity of funds in NFF can better be explained by them but I think NFF had no reason to suffer such. Every football activity is funded by three sources; the federal government will fund it, FIFA will fund it if it's international tournament, State and Sponsors will also fund it. So one wonders why there is this much ado about paucity of fund in NFF.
Throughout my tenure as the Minister of Youth and Sports Development every single activity of NFF was funded by the federal government. NFF will present a budget which will cover all overheard expenditure from the beginning to the end of the competition and these funds are always released.
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