UPDATE: Super Falcons protest at the National Assembly

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Super Falcons of Nigeria, champions of Africa for a record eighth time are currently protesting on the streets of Abuja, the federal capital territory, against the non-payment of their allowances and bonuses.

The aggrieved players, who have now laid siege on the national assembly, won the 8th edition of the African Women’s Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon, and have vowed not to hand over the trophy to the Nigerian Football Federation NFF until they are paid.

The African champions have also refused to leave their Agura hotel?, Abuja.

Speaking to TheCable at the protest ground at the national assembly entrance, one of the players said:”We are not protesting to embarrass the nation but to beg the government to help us to get what we worked and suffered for.

“We, as women, should not be treated differently from the men. If it were to be the? Super Eagles, I am sure that they would have found a solution to the issue of unpaid allowances owed.

“We went to Cameroon without any complaint. We did the nation proud. We are only appealing to the government to get our dues. We are their daughters; they should hear our cry and come to our aid. We have aged parents to take care of and other responsibilities too.”

The Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) is owing the Super Falcons team a cumulative sum of $819,000 from the qualification games tothe gold medal win against hosts Cameroon in the final.

Breakdown of the total money owed ?is below:

Total money owed per player is $25,400

Total money owed the head coach is $50,800 (head coach gets twice what the players get)

Total money for each assistant coach is $33,600 ( 2 assistant coaches and one goalkeeper trainer)

Total money owed each back room staff? is $33,600 (the team medical doctor, physiotherapist, media officer, team secretary and coordinator)

The curator gets half of what the back room staffs get, which is $16,800.

Dalung, Pinnick Ignore Super Falcons, Fly To London

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung and the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), have left the country for the UK, where they are expected to sign a new contract with kit manufacturing giants, Nike.

Their trip comes amid the rancour with the senior national women’s team, the Super Falcons, who are still on a sit-in protest in an Abuja hotel, over unpaid bonuses and allowances.

The Falcons have been holed up in the hotel since they arrived in the country from the competition and have vowed not to release the trophy, until they receive their entitlements.

Although the NFF promised to pay off the outstanding debts, they also admitted they currently don’t have the funds to.

One of the players told BBC Sport that they are owed as much as US$23,650 (about N11.5 million) per player.

“We are not leaving this hotel and we have not been told exactly when we are going to get paid,” the player, who insisted on anonymity, said.

“The plan is to stay here until we all receive the money because the moment we leave there will be no opportunity to get it again.”

Pinnick, Dalung ignore Super Falcons, jet to London.

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Their trip comes amid the rancour with the senior national women’s team, the Super Falcons, who are still on a sit-in protest in an Abuja hotel, over unpaid bonuses and allowances.

The Falcons have been holed up in the hotel since they arrived in the country from the competition and have vowed not to release the trophy, until they receive their entitlements.

Although the NFF promised to pay off the outstanding debts, they also admitted they currently don’t have the funds to.

One of the players told BBC Sport that they are owed as much as US$23,650 (about N11.5 million) per player.

“We are not leaving this hotel and we have not been told exactly when we are going to get paid,” the player, who insisted on anonymity, said.

“The plan is to stay here until we all receive the money because the moment we leave there will be no opportunity to get it again.”

No fund to accommodate Eagles in Zambia – Pinnick

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has raised an alarm over paucity of fund to facilitate the Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifiers against the Chipolopolo of Zambia. The match will hold in Ndola on Sunday.

Pinnick, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Sports, in Abuja, lamented that lack of adequate funding was frustrating efforts by the NFF to operate efficiently.

He said: “Nigeria was paired against Zambia, Cameroun and Algeria. It is a group that is called “group of death,” which means we need to intensify our preparations. We need to monitor our players and make sure that the ticket is made available.

“The good news is that I think we have a very sound technical crew and we also have a lot of our players doing very well, but the missing link is our financial incapacitation, which activates practically everything you do on the field and off the field.

“Before now, we have sent representation to government for intervention because funds were not coming in from our sponsors, which relates to the economy of the country at the moment, and is being very difficult for them. That is what they claim. So, we didn’t have any option than to result to writing to government, which we did and we are still awaiting response from them and the match is in five days.”

The NFF boss said a chartered flight arrangements had been made with Arik Airline, which has assigned a technical crew. He revealed that the federation was able to secure accommodation in Protea Hotel, which is 10 minutes away from the stadium, but it had not been able to pay for it.

“We have been able to secure about 60 to 70 rooms but we need to make some payments so that they (the hotel) will keep the rooms because everybody from Zambia wants to come and watch that game and that is our predicament.

“Beyond that, we are also looking at the next game against Algeria, which is coming up on November 9 in Uyo (Akwa Ibom State). The Algerian national team has informed me that they are coming with two to three private jets that will be bringing their team.

“As it is, everybody is taking this championship or qualifiers very, very serious but, like I said, the good news about us is that we have a very good team and we have a strong technical crew.”

I Am Yet To Receive Any Court Order – Dalung

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, said on Wednesday he was yet to receive any court order nullifying Amaju Pinnick’s Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) presidency.

Dalung said this at the NFF Extra-Ordinary General Assembly in Abuja that he has not been informed of any court decision.

“As a lawyer and a Minister of Sports, till today, I have not received any court order. The court orders served on me were all dated 2014. I have never received any court order dated 2016. The court order that was served on me was dated 2014; there is not even 2015 court order; so I am even worried, this news of Jos High court.

I have not seen any court order, but I am not saying there is none, if there is any court order, I am the minister bring the court order to me, I have not seen it.

I want to appeal to all of you seated here, that you must be sincere to yourself. For me in the government, government deals with establishments.

We came into office and we inherited a government in the Nigeria Football Federation.

If the government is replaced, we will also be informed as to how it has been replaced and as a government we will change our position.

The football family must go back and put itself in order.’’

It will be recalled that on April 7, a Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, had nullified the election that brought NFF President, Amaju Pinnick and his board into office.

Dalung said he was not in a position to elect or impose a president on the federation, hence the need for the football house to find a way to resolve its issues.

He said that the Pinnick-led board had 30 days within which to appeal after which the court order would be enforced.

Dalung urged the NFF board to remain focus to the cause of football adding that the Chris Giwa led board should allow Pinnick to exercise his right.

He also urged the media not to destroy football in the country with stories that do not exist.

Earlier, Pinnick called on the minister to use his good office to bring on end to the battled in the glass house adding that it was not good for the development of football in the country.

Pinnick said that in the past two to three days the federation had lost sponsors for many games.

It will be recalled that the Chris Giwa led board addressing a news conference said that the court order had been made available to the minister.
(NAN)

Dalung To Meet Pinnick, Giwa Over Tussle

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Staff Reporter

In a move to bring to an end the struggle for who is the legitimate occupant of the seat of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, the Youth and Sports Minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung in a surprise move after denying backing the move of Chris Giwa to reclaim his alleged mandate as head of the NFF, has scheduled a peace meeting for January 20, 2016.

In a press statement issued by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the minister is expected to meet with the gladiators in the scramble for the NFF position, Giwa and the current holder of the position, who was elected at the rescheduled Congress held in Warri in 2014, Amaju Melvin Pinnick.

The statement which did not indicate the venue of the meeting, said that Barrister Dalung has called on the Giwa and Pinnick groups to be calm while quoting him to have said that “after a comprehensive study of submissions from both sides, I have fixed January 20, 2016 to meet with the leaders of the two groups to resolve the issue. In the light of the above, the leaders of the two warring groups are hereby advised to refrain from acts capable of jeopardizing the peace process.

“They should therefore maintain calm while the issue is being resolved. All should note that any act contrary to my appeal will continue to tarnish the image and integrity of the country and further scare would-be investors from our sports “.

This minister’s move is aimed at forestalling any crisis that could result in an attempt by the Giwa group to forcefully resume at the Abuja office of the NFF on January 12, 2016 in a surprised renewed claim to the leadership of the NFF which mandate they claim they allegedly got in the controversial election of August 26, 2015 that resulted in the temporary suspension of the NFF by FIFA.

Buhari Deserves A Place In Guinness Book Of Records – Pinnick

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) is worthy of a bold mention in the Guinness Book of Records, according to NFF President Amaju Pinnick.
Pinnick spoke in Santiago on Monday morning as he boarded a flight to Buenos Aires on the way back home from a success story at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.
“Yes, it is a success story as you just mentioned, but it would not have ended that way without the great support that the Nigeria Football Federation continues to receive from the President Muhammadu Buhari –led Federal Government.
“In fact, the Nigeria Football Federation is dedicating this triumph to President Buhari. He is a man of history. He was there when the first set won the trophy in 1985 as military Head of State; now he is here as civilian President when the Class of 2015 emerged victorious. Seriously speaking, I don’t think there is any Head of State or Government in the entire universe who has this honour, and for this, our PMB deserves a place in the Guinness Book of Records.”
Pinnick, whose one –year administration can now point to successes at the African Women Championship (Namibia 2014), African Youth Championship (Senegal 2015) and now the Eaglets’ triumph (aside qualifications for several major tournaments), insisted on Monday that the masterstroke for the Eaglets’ confident and determined approach was President Buhari’s call to the team a day earlier.
“We appreciate the President for sparing time out of his very tight schedule to talk to each and every player and official. That was a massive motivation. At the end of the conversation, the players told me they would go all out and give whatever it would take to win, having been inspired by the country’s leader.
“Football is a potent and huge tool for national unity and the focus of the present NFF administration is to build a sustainable football culture for our country. Triumphs are good, but we must not overlook the sustainable culture.”
The NFF President assured that his administration would be strongly involved in the players’ development, unlike what happened in the past. “People have talked about monitoring the players. We would do more than that. We would be part of their developmental programs and seamless transition to senior categories.
“We are very happy with this victory because it gives us the opportunity to present to our dear PMB his first global crown on his return as civilian President.”
Pinnick, a member of the Organizing Committee for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and who joined the dignitaries to hand out the medals in Vina del Mar on Sunday, hinted that the NFF already has other targets in its immediate radar.

Credit : Vanguard

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