President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, on Thursday, August 24, told the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the dispute between the Super Falcons and NFF, that they’ve paid the match bonuses and allowances due to the players.
The ad-hoc committee led by Hon. Blessing Onuh (APC, Benue) had on Wednesday, August 23, “chased” out the Secretary-General of the NFF, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, insisting that the NFF President must appear before it unfailingly yesterday.
During the proceeding on Thursday, the committee made inquiries regarding unpaid allowances for the Super Falcons in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Responding to this during his presentation, Gusau said no funding was released for participation in the 2019 competition. He however revealed that in the just concluded 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand, $960,000 was given to each of the 32 countries that qualified.
He stated that the money was provided by FIFA to enable the participating countries prepare their teams for the World Cup and the NFF couldn’t use it to settle outstanding allowances. “We can’t use this money to pay outstanding allowances for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” he said.
Gusau went on to state that following the conclusion of the 2023 World Cup, they’ve paid members of the senior female football team popularly known as the Super Falcons and are no longer owing.
Chairperson of the House ad-hoc committee, Hon. Blessing Onu who wasn’t satisfied with the response from NFF, asked how they were able to fund the Super Falcons in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by France.
The committee further directed that documents stating how the Super Falcons were funded in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the breakdown of match bonuses payments and its slips for 23 players, and the coaching crew be provided by NFF before 30th August, 2023.
The NFF President in his presentation earlier, revealed that they usually get funded by CAF and FIFA. Gusau stated that no payment is received from the federal government for its staff and officials.
He said “The Confederation of African Football (CAF) provides $250,000 per annum as a subvention fund”.
