The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has said the $960,000 it was given by FIFA was earmarked for World Cup preparations and not to pay player salaries for qualifying matches.
Appearing before an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating non-payment of allowances to Super Falcon members, NFF president Ibrahim Gusau stated that the federation used the money to camp the players and for friendly matches .
He said FIFA auditors would have flagged it if the NFF had used the money to pay per diems for qualifying matches.
“The 32 nations that qualified for the World Cup received $960,000 each for World Cup preparation.
“In January we organized a four-nation training tournament: Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Nigeria. All teams used FIFA preparation money. The team was camped in Mexico and were there for 13 days. In March they were in Türkiye for another training camp.
“The money was not given for the well-being of the players but for the preparation of the team. We pay them allowances based on the tournament they participated in. We cannot use setup money to pay for pending qualifying matches.
“If the FIFA auditors see it, they will ask us about it. The money was specific. We cannot use the money for a qualifying match that was played in 2019,” he stated.
We do not receive money from FG for the 2019 World Cup
Gusau also informed the committee that the federation has not received enough subsidies from the federal government, hence its inability to meet its obligations to national teams.
He said the federal government did not give the federation money to run the Women’s World Cup 2019 in France, but had to rely on money from FIFA.
For the 2023 World Cup, Gusau said the federal government approved $1.7 million for the NFF, yet only half of the money was given to the federation.
“It is a budget that we presented to the government requesting government intervention, that was what came out together around $1.7 million and the government approved it. And when it came to the Federal Ministry of Finance, they do not pay us in dollars. The Ministry converted the money into dollars using the official exchange rate. Only half of the money was paid,” he said.
The NFF chief also claimed that severance payments owed to the Falcon’s manager, manager Randy Waldrum, were paid and that his contract was terminated.
He also said that the NFF has paid all outstanding allowances to members of the Super Falcon team, except for the allowance for a qualifying match against the Ivory Coast.
After approximately two hours of questioning Mr. Gusau, the committee ruled that the NFF should provide all proof of payment of allowances. In addition, the committee requested details of all NFF income.
Subsequently, the Committee Chairman, Blessing Onuh, adjourned the Committee session until Wednesday of the next week.
Editing: Festus Owete, Tosin Omoniyi
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