The victorious Super Falcons of Nigeria who were crowned queens of Africa after beating Cameroon in the AWCON final have continued their protest at the nonpayment of their allowances and bonuses despite the assurances of the sports minister, Solomon Dalung. The girls have refused to leave their camp until they have been paid their dues.  

 On Thursday, Dalung held a meeting with the players, pleading that process to secure their entitlement was still on but his pleas yielded no success as the new African queens insisted they will only quit their Abuja hotel until they were paid. A Falcon star who spoke to Goal.com on condition of anonymity said: “We are not ready to leave the hotel. We have heard enough promises but all we want is for our entitlement to be paid.

“We’re not really happy with the way we’re treated. We are not even talking about getting reward yet.
“But a workman should be paid after his or her service but ours is not like that rather they speak to us in a manner like we don’t deserve to be paid.”
Another player insists their protest is not only about their unpaid bonuses, but the unfair treatment and poor attention to the women’s game in the country.
“We are not fighting for ourselves because of money, but for the future of women’s football in Nigeria.”

According to the NFF, the players are entitled to a $3,000 each for a win and $1,500 for a draw in the group stages, while victory in the semi-finals gives them another $4,000.

They will get another $5,000 each for defeating Cameroon in the continental showpiece’s final meaning each player will pocket $16, 500 each.

The Super Falcons are the latest victims of the NFF’s sloppiness when it comes to paying players. Earlier this year, the Women’s U17 and U20 teams were decamped with token N10,000 and N30,000 following their early exits from the Jordan 2016 Fifa u17 Women’s World Cup and Papua New Guinea 2016 U20 Women’s World Cup respectively.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Niger Republic has consoled Nigeria’s Under 17 Golden Eaglets team after they lost out on U-17 2017 Nations cup qualification over the weekend and the match was marred by irregularities, violence and media bullying.

The NFF, through it’s General secretary on Monday alleged that Nigeria’s Under 17 team were wrongly officiated and that cameras of their media personnel were seized at the stadium in Niger.

The Diplomat offered the consolatory message to the Nigerian contingent during a dinner he hosted for the team at the Royal Palace Hotel after the ill fated 3-1 loss to the Junior Menas of Niger during the weekend..

“It is unfortunate that this kind of things still happen in football but I want you to forget about this and forge ahead in your careers because you are just starting out,” he advised. “I want to wish you a successful trip back to Nigeria and best wishes in your future endeavors.”

NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, thanked the ambassador and embassy officials for support given to the Nigerian delegation to Niamey.

“Though we are not happy with the outcome of the match as well as the treatment by the Nigerienne people, we thank you so much for the amount of support given to us,” he explained.” Whatever is destined must happen, but I want to assure you that we would monitor these boys in conjunction with their coaches for future engagements. Thank you so much.”

Source: theNFF