Blessing Onu, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the financial dispute between the Falcons and the Nigeria Football Federation, has ordered the football body to produce payment slips for players and officials of the women’s national team at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
She made this known in Abuja on Thursday while quizzing the NFF president Ibrahim Gusau, who appeared before the committee.
Onu said documents of how the Falcons were funded at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the breakdown of match bonuses and the payment slips for 23 players and the coaching crew be provided by the NFF before August 30.
Responding, Gusau said no funding was released for participation, adding that at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, $960,000 was given to all 32 countries that qualified.
According to him, the preparation money provided by FIFA is to be used by these countries to prepare the teams for the World Cup.
“We can’t use this money to pay outstanding allowances for the 2019 Women’s World Cup,” he said.
The NFF president said they usually got funding from the Confederation of African Football and world body FIFA, adding that no payment was gotten from the Federal Government for its staff and officials.
He stated that the federation got its operational cost from FIFA.
“The Confederation of African Football provides $250,000 per annum as subvention funds,” he said.
Onu had accused Gusau of frustrating the investigation into the allegations of non-payment of allowances and entitlements of the Falcons.
Her statement followed the alleged refusal of the NFF president to honour the invitation of the ad hoc committee investigating the face-off between the Falcons and the NFF officials.
Onuh said, “It’s obvious that the NFF president is frustrating this ad hoc committee from investigating the allegations levelled against it.”
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
