That Super Falcons’ Bonuses Saga

It was obviously to the delight of every Nigerian that the nation’s senior female football team, the Super Falcons, lifted the golden trophy for the eighth time after subduing their Cameroonian counterparts at the finals of the 10th edition of the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) played in Yaounde, Cameroon, recently.
But several days after this heroic feat, what ordinarily should have attracted honour and pride to Nigerians effectively turned out as a national embarrassment when the government, rather than celebrate the victorious players, practically forced them into a situation where they had to protest against avoidable delays in the payment of their outstanding allowances and match bonuses.
The Super Falcons had, upon returning to the country from the AWCON tournament, declined to hand over their prized trophy to the nation’s football authorities except the latter fulfilled its promise to pay them all their outstanding benefits. There were even reports that the female footballers also refused to vacate their rooms at Agura Hotel in Abuja as an indication of their resolve to press home the demand for an immediate settlement of all their remaining entitlements. And in further defiance to renewed pleas and assurances of immediate payment, the protesting Falcons had marched to the National Assembly Complex to register their grouse against the authorities on a day President Muhammadu Buhari was expected in the building to present the 2017 Appropriation Bill.
While their protests lasted, a blame game was already playing out between the nation’s Sports Ministry and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF). Secretary-General of the NFF, Mohammed Sanusi, had while pleading with the female footballers at their sit-in hotel, blamed the payment default on the Federal Government’s dire financial circumstances. According to him, “We know we have financial commitment to you and we have not at any time stated otherwise. But the money is not readily available … We will pay you all monies you are being owed as soon as we receive same from the government.”
But the Minister for Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, was said to have countered the NFF’s position while declaring open the72nd Annual General Assembly of the country’s football governing house. He was quoted as having blamed the payment saga on the way the NFF treated issues relating to the request of funds from the Federal Government for competition sponsorships:
“The NFF has formed the habit of requesting for funds for its programme at very short notice and thereafter resort to blackmail to hasten the approval and release of such funds from government. We cannot continue to administer our football in this manner any longer”
Dalung had also hinted at an alleged mismanagement of FIFA’s $1.1 million development grant to the NFF, leading to a suspension of any further funds releases to Nigeria by the world football governing body pending proper documentation of how $802,000 was spent from the earlier disbursements.
In any case, it took a presidential intervention for the Super Falcons to eventually receive their outstanding benefits amounting to about N358 million. In fact, this happened in less than 24 hours following a marching order from the Aso Rock Villa to the Ministers of Finance, Sports and Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to -ensure immediate payment.
We recall that this is not the first time the Super Falcons and the nation’s football authorities have clashed over unpaid allowances and match bonuses. In 2004, the team had opted to remain in their hotel rooms back in South Africa on account of their unpaid entitlements by the then Nigeria Football Authority (NFA) three days after winning the African Women’s Championship for that year.
Indeed, disagreements over unpaid salaries, allowances and bonuses have become a recurring event between players, coaches, clubs and football administrators in Nigeria; often resulting in training boycotts days before crucial qualifiers or during major outings.
But beyond all this, The Tide believes that the latest bonuses saga could have been avoided if there existed a healthy chemistry between the Sports Ministry and the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF. From their respective positions on the issue, it was already apparent that whereas the Ministry believed that the football house still had enough FIFA dollars to offset such bills, the latter claimed to be cash-strapped and was naturally expecting government support.
In view of this, therefore, we urge the Federal Government to quickly review, if not abrogate, Decree 101 which seems to guarantee a major role for government in football administration. The NFF must be encouraged to be self-sustaining and resourceful by depending less on the state for sponsorship. This will hopefully ensure adequate planning and drafting of a lasting template for football administration rather than the fire-brigade approach employed over the years within the Sports Ministry and the NFF.
While we join other well-meaning Nigerians to congratulate the Super Falcons and decry the over politicisation of football management in Nigeria, we also charge the African champions not to be deterred but to forge ahead and win the women’s World Cup for the country. Nigeria, as the foremost black nation on Earth, has enormous human and material resources to conquer the world in female soccer and other sports competitions.