‘I’m not going to be quiet anymore, in October, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World Cup, Where’s that money?’
By Valentine Amanze (9-7-2023)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has not lacked controversies in the past 30 years.
If the members are not having leadership issues, they are fighting their employees (coaches) or owing players allowances and match bonuses.
Infact it has no history of peaceful ending of relationship with national team managers and players.
From Clemens Westerhof (1989–1994); Shuaibu Amodu (2001–2002); Festus Adegboye Onigbinde (2002); Christian Chukwu (2002–2005); Augustine Eguavoen (2005–2007);
Berti Vogts (2007–2008);
James Peters (2008); Lars Lagerbäck (2010); Samson Siasia (2010–2011); Stephen Keshi (2011–2014); Daniel Amokachi (2014–2015); Sunday Oliseh (2015-2016); Gernot Rohr (2016–2022) – all had nasty issues with the NFF.
One is not surprised with the current one with the Super Falcons’ manager, Randy Waldrun, whom they hired, and who later qualified the Super Falcons for the female World Cup in Australia and New Zealand July 2023.
Waldrum, the former manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national female football team, currently doubles as the manager of Super Falcons and the University of Pittsburgh women’s soccer head coach.
Like his predecessors, Waldrum is fedup with the system that never got better; and spokeout in a podcast interview.
The American lamented his frustration thus: “Up until about three weeks ago, I was owed 14 months salary, and then they paid seven months.
“We still have players that haven’t been paid since two years ago, when we played the Summer Serries in the USA; it’s a travesty.
“I’m not going to be quiet anymore. In October, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World Cup; where’s that money?
“FIFA allows your staff to have up to 22 people but we only have 11; we don’t have scouts to watch the teams in our group or potential opponents.
“I saw the NFF’s response to my previous comments on the other podcast and it just seemed like a really childish response.
“What keeps me going is the players, otherwise, I would have walked away from this job a long time ago.”
But, the NFF Communication Direction, Ademola Olajire, disagreed with him.
Olajire rather tagged him as the worst coach to have handled the Super Falcons of Nigeria by a country mile.
Olajire also said that the ambition of the coach was to add the World Cup to his CV.
Olajire further said, “Incompetent loudmouth, found his voice now since he is about to achieve his only ambition of leading a team at the women’s World Cup.
“Everyone knows FIFA pays preparation money for every team going to the Women’s World Cup. The team traveled to Japan to play matches, traveled to Mexico for a tournament and traveled to Turkey to play matches.
“The team is presently having a 15-day training camp in Gold Coast ahead of the Women’s World Cup. Is it Mr. Blabber-mouth Waldrum who has been paying? He claims he’s been at the job because of the players, bollocks.
“His entire objective has al-ways been to add leading a team at the World Cup to his CV. Worst coach to have handled the Super Falcons of Nigeria by a country mile.”
Two wrongs cannot make a right. Olajire’s response was unprofessional and pedestral.
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As the imagemaker of the nation’s football’s ruling body, I expected Olajire to explain the issues raised by Waldrum instead of the namecalling.
By describing Waldrum as the worst coach to have handled the Super Falcons of Nigeria, Olajire indicted the NFF that employed both of them and the technical committee that recommended the manger, who had another job in the U.S.
Olajire also failed to rightly respond to the $960,000 FIFA gave the team’s preparation for the World Cup and the reduction of the number of the technical team.
The imagemaker merely said, “The team traveled to Japan to play matches, traveled to Mexico for a tournament and traveled to Turkey to play matches”.
Prior to the release of the $960,000, did NFF not have any budget for the Super Falcons’ World Cup preperation?
If the release of the money was delayed by FIFA, would the team skip preparations for the tournament?
The Super Falcons are also threatening not to play their first group match because of administrative and other matters.
Where is the position of the NFF Chairman, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, and the Sports Ministry in all these?
Are they planning to replace him before the kick-off of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand just the way they did to Rohr before Nations Cup in Cameroun?
It is apauling that the NFF and the Sports Ministry are not tired of embarrassing the nation; and they do it without consequences.
A man, who fails to plan, plans to fail. The ministry and its baby (NFF) appear to be benefiting from every crisis otherwise a lasting solution would have been found long ago.
If the root of the crises is money; what is wrong with the Marketing Department of the NFF? Is the department nolonger effective like the Technical Committee?
Let there be a strong structure that will plan ahead of every tournament as it is the vogou in FIFA, which rolls out its calendar of events yearly.
How much financial support the NFF is receiving from the Sports Ministry and FIFA annually?
Let there be transparency in the business of the NFF including hiring of coaches and payment of players’ entitlement.
valoa2000@yahoo.com
