Report of Unpaid Bonuses and Allowances All False, Says NFF and Super Eagles.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and players of the Super Eagles have strongly refuted claims made by an online publication alleging unpaid bonuses and allowances. The report suggested that the players have not received funds provided by the Presidency to the NFF for this purpose.
Late last year, the Presidency, with the direct involvement of the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, released funds to the NFF to settle outstanding bonuses and allowances for players and officials of the various national teams.
In response to the online report, a senior administrative official of the Super Eagles condemned the publication, calling it “tissues of lies” and challenged the writer to present evidence supporting the claims.
“The report is absolutely false, in every ramification, and we challenge the owner of the website and writer to come forward with proof of the claims. We want him to name the players who spoke to him, because these are all tissues of lies,” the official stated.
The official clarified that players and officials of the Super Eagles have been paid for all matches played at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), contradicting the report’s claim that payments were made for only three matches. The assertion that the team is owed for 25 matches was described as “the biggest lie ever concocted by any writer.”
The publication also erroneously claimed that only members of the NFF Board and staff of the Secretariat received their outstanding allowances from the government funds.
“This story is a shame. No player of the Super Eagles spoke to the writer. It is all pure fabrication,” a senior player told thenff.com.
Another senior official of the Super Eagles echoed these sentiments, stating: “The story is absolute bunkum. People should make an effort to verify whatever they hear from anywhere before going to the press. It is clear that this writer did not even hear anything; he simply brought forth something from his own imagination.”
The NFF and the Super Eagles continue to emphasize the importance of verifying information before publication and maintain that all claims made in the report are entirely unfounded.
