DRAMA AS EAGLES REJECT $5,000 BONUS

There was drama in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday, when the Super Eagles of Nigeria sounded a notice that they were not going to accept the revised winning bonus of $5000 as amended by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Speaking through their captain, Vincent Enyeama, the players claimed that they had not been officially informed and were not told why the bonus should be so drastically slashed, a reliable source informed Daily Sunsports.

On arrival in Nairobi, the President of NFF, Aminu Maigari, told the players that there was no going back on the decision given the financial situation of the football house.

When the players asked to know whether the NFF would return to the status quo if the situation improves, Maigari replied that he was not in the position to answer the question.

He told the Eagles that it would be unfair to tell them that the winning bonus of the Harambee Stars’ match was less than $2000, but that the reality was that the NFF was no more in a position to pay the $10,000, which was recommended and supported by the Governor Amaechi-led Presidential Task Force (PTF), which was set up to encourage the team when it was going for the last World Cup in South Africa. “The PTF is no longer there, the funds are not there.

We cannot promise what we do not have,” Alhaji Maigari said. Also discussed, was what Enyeama termed “Appearance fee” for the Nations Cup. He claimed that his colleagues from other countries had been paid appearance fees and wondered why the Eagles were not so favoured.

After the match in Kenya on Wednesday, the players had still not collected their bonuses, although a top member of the NFF board said that they would eventually take the money because Coach Stephen Keshi had told them that, that was the reality on ground. “Soon we will get past this money-money thing. Soon we will raise a crop of players who will realise that going to the World Cup is also a personal achievement.

Do they think they are playing for me? Or are they doing Nigeria a favour? Are they Algerians that we must pay them heavily for them to represent us? It is not very good to hear this,” one of the FA chairmen, who was in Nairobi for the match, fumed.

Source: Sun