Sports
NFF’s Cash Demand Rubbishes Eagles Preparation S’Africa 2010
Nigeria’s preparations for the World Cup may well suffer even more setbacks after it was learnt that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are demanding hefty cash payments from teams, who wish to engage the Super Eagles in warm-up matches prior to South Africa 2010.
Indepth investigations by our source have revealed that organisers for Nigeria’s only confirmed World Cup warm-up match against Colombia on May 30 in London have asked the NFF to review the Eagles match fee of $150,000.
They have also asked the Nigeria football authorities to dip into their pockets and come up with at least $50,000 as part of their own contribution to the London stadium hire of about $150,000.
NFF officials are also asking organisers for the Colombia game to pay for their flight tickets to London even though Nigeria are due there before the match for their World Cup training camp in Essex.
The NFF have confirmed that they are deep in negotiations with Iceland for a friendly on May 26, but this game may hit the rocks because while Iceland are disposed to foot the travel and boarding expenses of the Eagles, officials are believed to be demanding for an appearance fee of $100,000.
“We’re not an irresponsible organisation,” insisted NFF official, Tunde Aderibigbe.
“We know how important it is to prepare well so as to do well at the World Cup and as such we cannot compromise on this.
“But we also have bills to pay. We have to pay for our training camp, bonuses and allowances of the players, among other costs.”
It was gathered that the NFF splashed over 70 million naira for the participation of the home-based Eagles at the WAFU Nations Cup in Abeokuta as well as the FIFA Under-17 Female World Cup qualifying match against South Africa.
However, a perplexed football pundit wondered, “It is rather baffling that the NFF wish to commercialise these World Cup friendlies even though FIFA have paid them a million US dollars to prepare for the competition.
“Rather than be asking to be paid, it should be Nigeria even paying these teams to play them because they are the ones who really need these matches to prepare for the World Cup. Colombia and Iceland did not qualify for the World Cup.”
Proposed World Cup warm-ups against Paraguay, Ukraine and North Korea have all fallen through in the last few weeks and officials insist they will remain mum about other test games until they have been finalised.
Nigeria are pitched against Argentina, Greece and South Korea at the World Cup in June.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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