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The ongoing altercation between the victorious Super Falcons and the NFF might become messy as the coaches and players risk getting banned for life.
Authorities in Nigeria are planning to ban several Super Falcons stars and some of the coaches may lose their jobs as fallout from the standoff over unpaid entitlements, AfricanFootball reports.
This is coming as protesting Super Falcons players have insisted on being paid their bonuses and allowances by the Nigeria Football Federation and refused to hand over the cup they won.
The women’s national team have been protesting against the non-payment of their entitlements after winning the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Cameroon. They have refused to leave the Agura Hotel, Abuja, where they were lodged since returning from the competition.
It is reported that Falcons striker Francisca Ordega will be among the stars to be axed after she reportedly said she regrets playing for the country. The USA-based star was later blasted by NFF president Amaju Pinnick for her comments.
“I can categorically state here that the name Ordega will never be heard or seen in a Super Falcons team list again. This I was told by another top official of the football house,” a source informed.
“No less than 10 of these players could be banned for life for ridiculing their fatherland before the international media and henceforth, the NFF may draw up a code of conduct to guide against future occurrences.”
“The coaches and officials are not left out as they could lose their jobs for not standing firm in support of the federation when it matters most.”
The Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, alongside officials of the ministry and the NFF visited the players on Thursday to plead with them, but the players insisted that they would only call off the protest if given their entitlements. The women refused to listen to the Minister insisting that they must be paid for the hard work they did.
“We are still waiting for them to bring our money because we won’t leave here until we are paid. The minister came to see us today (Thursday) and said they were working on our money. It’s the same old story,” one of the players said.
The players are angry that the officials are insensitive to their plight and are not confident they will keep to their promise of paying them their allowances.
One of them said, “Can you imagine that the NFF president is outside the country while we have not been paid?”
The General Secretary of the federation, Mohammed Sanusi, also pleaded with the players, saying the NFF would pay them once the funds were raised, but some of the players, who pleaded anonymity, said they would not leave the hotel until they were paid.
“It is a sad thing that we will work hard for the country under tough conditions and we will still not be paid what is due to us,” one of the players said.
“We have learnt from what happened to the other teams after their outings at the World Cup and we cannot afford to let the same happen to us. All we want is our money and nothing more.”
Another player said, “It is very bad that none of those in power have deemed it fit to look into our case. Is it until we take to the streets that they will pay us? Some of are breadwinners of our families and we need to get bills settled for the yuletide.
“The title we won gave us joy but we will be happier if they pay us what we rightfully worked for. We don’t want much, just our bonuses and allowances before and at the tournament, then we will leave here.”
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