In a statement shared on his twitter page, on Wednesday, Obayiuwana, brought to light a troubling message from team.
The team’s grievances came to the forefront amidst a backdrop of their exceptional performance in their recent game.
He said the officials and players of the team reached out to him revealing their ordeals.
Recall that Nigeria were defeated by England on Monday, in the Round of 16 of the Women’s World Cup by a penalty shoot-out after the match ended in a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes.
Obayiuwana’s tweet stated that the players and officials lamented unpaid bonuses and threats faced during their recent participation in the U-20 World Cup.
The tweet reads, “Now that the @NGSuper_Falcons have gone to war with @thenff, officials and players of #Nigeria’s Under-20 team at the last #Under20WC in Argentina have reached out to me. And this is the message they sent, concerning their situation with @thenff.
“I am posting it verbatim, with some light editing, for grammatical reasons; PLIGHT OF THE FLYING EAGLES THAT ACHIEVED A QUARTER-FINAL FINISH IN ARGENTINA.
“In May 2022, the team won the Wafu U20 tournament and qualified for the AFCON U20 in Egypt during [the] @PinnickAmaju administration. The team was promised a qualification bonus but no specific amount was mentioned… To the AFCON U20 proper in Egypt – the NFF General Secretary sat with players and officials before the tournament and pledged $5,000 [to] each player if the team qualified for the U20 World Cup. Players and officials received 6 days training tour allowance in Morocco and 10 days in Egypt, despite spending 25 days in Egypt.
“The team finished third with [a] bronze medal and qualified for the World Cup. In Argentina, the team stayed for 31 days and reached the quarter finals but no match bonus was paid and only a 20 days camping allowance out of 31 days. 20 days camping allowance amounts to $2,000 that is $100 per day.
“In Argentina, the players wanted to revolt for the non-payment of the World Cup qualification bonus and allowances but the NFF GS threatened to black list players who engage in such an act.
“At the moment, the NFF owes each Flying Eagles player $5,000 World Cup qualification bonus and 25 days camping allowance – 15 days in Egypt and 10 days in Argentina, as well as match bonuses, for three wins during the U20 World Cup.”
Obayiuwana, however, charged Nigerians to judge the situation, saying, #Nigeria, over to you…”
Nigerians React
Mixed reactions trailed the revelation as some twitter users expressed disappointment while others emphasized the need to hear from the Nigeria Football Federation before reaching a conclusion.
A tweep, JOE X said, “They didn’t start today, they’ve been milking our athletes for years. The guys in charge of sports in Nigeria are nothing but criminals.”
Tc said, “Just like @ZEbetNG they are fraudulent. Intimidating ordinary Nigerians because they feel there’s nothing you can do. Institutions and companies in this country are able to get away with fraud because even organizations like NFF can behave like this.”
Another, Turi said, “How can one love a country that keeps stealing from you……..imagine threatening them cause they ask for what is rightly theirs.”
Opinionated-Freak wrote, “The thing about the NFF is they will not pay this money and they have embezzled it. @FIFAcom protects these national associations too much and that is why the corruption in Africa is deep. There should be a mechanism against this corruption and constant exploitation of players.”
Dann_essy 20:10:2020 opined, “when will this nonsense stop in the @thenff??? There’s no way @FIFAcom didn’t send money for preparation when these boys qualified for the Under-20 WC or stayed in the tournament till the QF, so what happened? Why are players always shortchanged?”
However, a twitter user, charged Nigerians not to be quick to judge and give NFF the benefit of doubt.
“So have you people heard the @thenff side of their own story before drawing conclusions on the matter. Why must Nigerians always pass judgment after hearing one side of stories?”
