The Nigeria football federation (NFF) have signed a deal with the Nigerian football team concerning payment and how they are to be rewarded for participation in the 2018 World Cup. This is welcome news especially after what happened at the 2013 Confederations cup in Brazil.
Nigeria arrived days late for the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup in Brazil because of a row over player payments, which resulted in the squad refusing to leave a hotel and travel for the World Cup warm-up tournament.
Captain John Mikel Obi, who was part of a squad row over payments ahead of the 2013 Brazil Confederations cup, was pleased with the agreement he said “This is the first time since I started playing for the senior team that I would see everything regarding preparation and bonuses and allowances put down in black and white and a binding agreement executed.”
Other African nations, including Ghana, Cameroon and Togo have also faced bonus-related problems and distractions during the World Cup. But this time as NFF vice-president Shehu Dikko says the deal is a comprehensive document that includes the build-up to the tournament in Russia.”We have concluded negotiations and come to an agreement with the team as regards bonuses, allowances and share of income from Fifa for the 2018 World Cup,” he explains. The NFF president Amaju Pinnick says he is determined to avoid the problems that have blighted African teams’ participation at past World Cups. We will see if this time everything is different