Kaduna Queens lament inhuman treatment, train on empty stomach

 

At a time when efforts are being made globally to take Women soccer to the next level, Kaduna Queens are singing lamentation songs over poor condition of their engagement.

Some visibly angry members of the squad did not only bare their minds while chatting with African Independent Television (AIT), but went a step further to show their accommodation which has a striking resemblance of a deprived IDP camp.

They ladies claimed to be owed 19 months salaries and efforts to get the state government to listen to them have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Some government officials who should actually be listening to them they further revealed have chosen to ignore their calls which from their reaction have become a form of disturbance.

“Look at where we are staying; we have only three mattresses most times we spread wrapper to sleep on the ground.

They made us promises even before we played the last match of the season and nothing has been done”, they said

The players, who have continued to train ahead of new season despite the ugly situation, revealed that they train within the neighborhood and have often been forced to beg from close pals to feed. “Even those helping us are tired of doing so” they added

The various women clubs in the country serve as feeders to the senior national team, the Super Falcons as coaches have often been encouraged to pick good players from amongst them and then blend with foreign based players to represent the country at the African Women Championship, Olympics and the FIFA Women’s World cup.

Only recently Brazil approved equal pay for both men and women players who represent the country with England keying into the idea almost immediately. Other countries that have approved equal pay include Norway, Australia and New Zealand.

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Some analyst say Nigeria boasts of good women footballers capable of taking the world by storm but noted that poor facilities and remuneration has forced them to perform below par especially at the world stage.