The Nigerian national football team, Super Eagles, may not be attending the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers game.
The reason behind this move is based on the financial standing oh the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, which has said it is broke and thus may not be able to fly the team to Zambia for the third-round qualifier scheduled for Zambia.
According to sources, the NFF is scheming to pull in the sum of N85million which is the estimated cost of funding the team’s travel to Ndola, Zambia to play against Chipolopolo of Zambia on October 9.
A top official within the football body told The Guardian yesterday that the no cash situation of the football body has put a lot of constraint on its activities.
The source added: “We need about N85 million to take care of the match against Zambia on October 9, but as we speak, we don’t have any kobo in our purse. We have appealed to Globacom to come to our aid by footing the bills. We are still waiting for response from the Federal Government.”
The official further broke down the estimate to include: “The charges for the Airline alone is $200,000 for a 140-seater plane, and it will be on ground with the team for two days. We need between $6,000 and $10,000 for flight ticket to bring in the players.
“Their bonuses alone are within the range of N30 million. We don’t have any kobo in our purse right now, hence the need for us to approach Glo to come to our aid. But the Federal Government still has to play its part because this is the beginning of our campaign for the 2018 World Cup qualifying ticket. If we must get it right, every hand must be on deck.”