Governing Bodies
NFF assures on payment of outstanding bonuses of Super Eagles, coaches’ salaries
The Nigeria Football Federation says it is working at a pace to ensure the payment of outstanding bonuses and allowances of the coaches and players of the senior men national team, Super Eagles, as well as salaries owed the coaches of the team.
NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said in Abuja on Wednesday that the challenges and disruptions caused by the global coronavirus pandemic are still being felt by government institutions and businesses the world over, and there was no need to pretend that these are normal times.
“The NFF deserves no joy in owing players and coaches their
entitlements.
“The same players and coaches have been well-taken-care
of and provided the necessary facilities when things were normal, and as we work assiduously towards conquering the present challenges and seeing sunlight again, we expect the players, coaches and administrative staff to show the same level of understanding that they have been showing over the past 18 months.
“Of course, we are pragmatists and we releaize that these things can be frustrating and some people will boil over and talk about them.
“It is normal. Last month, during the friendlies in Austria, we were able to pay some of the outstanding bonuses and allowances.
“We are working at a pace presently to clear what is remaining. As I speak, we are owing the team bonuses and allowances from only the last two matches, and payments for these two games have been sent to the Central Bank
some weeks ago.
“They will receive the monies shortly. We are equally working to pay the coaches what they are being owed as salaries.”
Dr Sanusi’s comments were in direct reference to a statement credited to Super Eagles’ defender, Leon Balogun on Tuesday saying the NFF was owing the players bonuses and allowances.
“We have never denied owing the team. Leon is a senior player that everyone respects for his quality output on the pitch and calmness and forbearance off it, but I do not know which reports he was referring to when he said the NFF was
contradicting itself.
“He also talked about playing pitches. Sincerely speaking, the past few years has seen a remarkable improvement in stadia infrastructure across the country. The team had to move round the States because the turf of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja got bad.
Now, the pitch is coming back to shape thanks to the efforts of the present Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare, who got the respected Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s company to work on it.
“Presently, we have exciting venues in Uyo, Benin City, Asaba, Kaduna and Lagos. Without the team moving round the States, the governments of these States probably would not have devoted much efforts into putting these facilities in world-standard shape.
“There are remarkable improvements on facilities in Ibadan, the National Stadium in Lagos and a new one in Lagos. All these will benefit the teeming youth population of Nigeria who are interested in sports.”
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
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