NFF Refuses to Pay Eagles 30-Match Bonuses – Gusau

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, has denied reports suggesting that the Super Eagles are owed a backlogged a...

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, has denied reports suggesting that the Super Eagles are owed a backlogged amount of match bonuses covering roughly 30 games,The PUNCH reports.

In an interview shared by Elegbete TV on Wednesday, Gusau stated that the NFF has settled all unpaid funds for the team, and agreements have also been reached regarding their bonuses for the World Cup qualifiers.

The Nigerian national team skipped practice in Rabat, Morocco, on Tuesday, before their important 2026 World Cup African qualifier semi-final match against Gabon on Thursday.

Nevertheless, both sides came to an agreement on Wednesday when the team resumed practice before the important playoffs.

Nigeria will play against Gabon at the Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat on Thursday (today), with the victor set to compete against either DR Congo or Cameroon, who will also face each other today.

Early statements from the team's camp indicated that players and staff missed their second scheduled practice as a form of protest against unpaid bonuses, which originated in 2019.

It was also mentioned that the players sought $15,000 each for the playoffs, with the NFF offering $10,000. However, captain William Troost-Ekong denied these reports, stating that the team's attention was on the upcoming matches.

"Once a solution is reached, we will be the first to announce it. Any other statement, claim, or particularly any demands other than the legitimate request mentioned are false," Troost-Ekong stated.

All we desire and keep doing is concentrate on the major matches coming up.

Following the incident, Gusau refuted the captain's statements.

"It is not accurate that we have been in debt for 30 matches," Gusau said to Elegbete TV.

"Right after the AFCON last year, we met with the team's leaders and had discussions. I said to them, 'I didn't want us to enter the World Cup qualifiers with any financial problems. Can we sit down and sort out what you owe?' Please, this is how we can ensure we clear those issues. Let's go into the qualifiers with a clean slate," the NFF president stated during an interview with Elegbete TV.

Before we returned to this year's qualifiers, we reached an agreement with them and everything was resolved. Therefore, if there are any unresolved matters we have with the Super Eagles, it relates to the qualifiers, and these qualifiers we are participating in, the NFF and the National Sports Commission have come to an agreement with them. It's not about giving you a match bonus after the game, then proceeding if we qualify, and offering you a certain amount of money.

So, it's not about after every game; this is the match bonus we are providing to you, and they have agreed. So whenever they come now, we simply offer them an appearance fee, which we have been doing through the National Sports Commission.

After reaching an agreement, the Super Eagles will enter today's match with only one full team training session, as only 14 players participated in their initial training on Monday.

Unable to secure an automatic qualification spot, the Super Eagles are battling against the challenge of missing consecutive FIFA World Cups via the playoff rounds.

If they secure the African entry, they will move on to the intercontinental qualifiers in Mexico, where two spots will be up for grabs in the competition scheduled for Mexico.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).