Super Eagles call off bonus strike after President Buhari intervention
Super Eagles players have called off bonus striker after Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari intervention ahead of matchday two encounters against Guinea on Tuesday afternoon at Alexandria Stadium.
The three-time African Champions agreed to train for 30 minutes on Tuesday evening after schedule, after the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) promised to pay a win bonus from their 1-0 victory over Burundi on Saturday, by the end of the week.
Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari quickly stepped in and released funds for the players, which was confirmed by the Nigeria Football Federation.
NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire told AFP “the matter has been resolved”, conceding that funds for the tournament had arrived late.
“The NFF received part of the money meant for the tournament today and is in the process of converting it to dollars to pay the players and officials”, he said.
“The only money they’re owed is the win-bonus for the Burundi match”
The bonuses were expected to be paid by the NFF after Saturday’s game ended.
Officials close to the team, who spoke under anonymity, told AFP that following reassurances from the NFF “the team captain spoke to the players, asking them to show some understanding after which the team agreed to train”.
Other NFF officials disclosed that the players have been paid a daily training allowance of $200-a-player from June 2 to June 30.
It could be recalled that both the women’s senior team at the Women’s World Cup in France and the men’s FIFA U20 World Cup team in Poland also embarked on pay strikes to press for their entitlements.
Samson Oyedeyi
