FIFA BONUS: Eagles will get N1b next week–Pinnick

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has assured that the $2.8M (about N1.8b) which represents the share of Super Eagles bonus for qualifying Nigeria for the FIFA 2018 World Cup will be ready next week.

This was disclosed by the NFF president Amaju Pinnick on Channels TV on Monday. He said the players were part of the decision making process.

“Before the game against Argentina in Krasnodar last November, we called the coach and some senior players like the captain Obi Mikel and Ahmed Musa into a room.

We told them that the total money we’re expecting from FIFA for qualifying for the World Cup is $8 million and asked for their opinion on how it should be shared. We gave them  permission to go and consult with their colleagues and come back with their position if not that day then the following day.

We did this because we didn’t want a situation where there’s rancour and acrimony over bonuses like we’d seen in the past. They left and came back later to demand for 30% of the money which translates to roughly $2.8m.

We drafted an agreement, sent it to our lawyers to look at and each party signed. As I speak, we are at the point of raising the $2.8m, which we’ll hand over to them as soon as they come to camp,” said Pinnick.

Recalled at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Super Eagles players boycotted a training session before their round of 16 clash against France over the non-payment of their bonus