Dylan Bettencourt
The Nigerian female football team are refusing to train ahead of their third place playoff in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) due to a bonus dispute.
The 11-time winners of the tournament were in the semi-final with hosts Morocco and now o the bronze medal.
However, none of the players have turned up to training as they claim they have not been paid their R150,000 bonuses for their wins over Botswana, Burundi and Cameroon.
The players boycotted training on Wednesday evening with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) forced to respond.
“The players have refused to leave their hotel in Casablanca over unpaid bonuses,” a top NFF official told BBC Sport Africa.
“There is also an issue over the unpaid first five days of camp, which the players expected in their bank accounts but has not arrived.”
The team is due to take on Zambia in the bronze medal match on Friday.
The NFF have struggled with finances in the past as they receive funding from the government. The federation have however paid each player R15,000 to cover their 10 day allowance.
NFF president Amaju Pinnick said the governing body were dealing with the issue but they require funds from the government to pay the players.
An advisor to the Nigerian sports minister said the team received verbal assurances that they would receive the payments.
This is however not the first time the Super Falcons have had to dispute the lack of payment during a Wafcon tournament.
The first came as long ago as 2004 in South Africa where the team eventually lifted the crown and again in 2016 when they lifted their eighth crown.
Unpaid salaries and bonuses saw the team stage a sit-in protest at the Fifa World Cup in 2019 after being eliminated in the round of 16 by Germany.
Each player is entitled to R1,500 daily as well as R45,000 for each group stage win and R25,000 for each draw.
After a recent payment review, the team should also receive R75,000 each for their quarter-final victory.
They would have received R90,000 if they defeated Morocco in the semi-final and R150,000 each if they lifted the crown again.
Image source: @Goal
