Officials of the Nigeria Football Federation officials have said that the Federal Government stand on the Treasury Single Account, cashless policy and their inability to secure approval have delayed them from paying the Super Eagles their camp allowances and match bonuses.
The Eagles who defeated their opponents from Swaziland 2-0 in Port Harcourt on Tuesday have not been paid. They are awaiting $5,000 each for their victory and as well half that amount for the draw they secured against the same team last Friday in Lobamba. This is unlike in the past when the players got their bonuses immediately after the match. The players, for instance, got their cash in Dar es Salaam soon after the match against the Tanzanians.
An NFF board member told The PUNCH on Wednesday, “The situation is quite challenging. It is not just the TSA but we have yet to get approval to pay them. Everything has been reworked with the new policy and so we have to get approval before payments are made and we have not secured that as of now.”
And from another NFF official our correspondent learnt that the TSA arrangement was posing the most challenge.
“It is just like we don’t have a penny in our account even though the federation has more than enough to pay the players. The CBN has yet to acknowledge the receipt of the cash we transferred to them as a result of the new policy. It is not just the NFF, other agencies are facing it too. They said the transfer has yet to show but how long we are going to wait for is what we don’t know.”
Going by the cashless policy, the players have been asked by the NFF to open domiciliary accounts so that their money can be transferred to them wherever they are. The players were asked to do so soon after the match in Tanzania.
NFF officials met with the players on Tuesday night to again explain the details of the new policy and its challenges.
Our correspondent learnt that the challenge was first witnessed in Chile during the FIFA U-17 World Cup but the NFF officials were able to handle the situation with “tact and astute diplomacy”.
“The fact that the players did well helped to douse the tension and quicken every process needed to make the payment possible,” the official said.
The Eagles have however received $40,000 from the Rivers State Government, which promised them $20,000-per-goal for the match against Swaziland.
(Punch)
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