Nigeria FA pays technical team ahead of World Cup

• Posted on April 9, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

A fillip has been given to Nigeria’s World Cup aspiration after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) unfolded plan to pay seven months salaries to Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, and his three assistants.

The substantial payment to the coaches include; four months outstanding salaries up till March and the next three months, leading to the World Cup finals in Brazil.

NFF Board member, Emeka Inyama, at an elaborate media parley attended by the Secretary General of the federation, Musa Amadu, said the latter was expected to sign the mandate for the payment later yesterday while the coaches should expect to be alerted of the transaction by their banks latest tomorrow.

Inyama disclosed that the payment was made possible by the recent release of some money by the federal government to its parastatals, including the NFF.

“The federation arranged to pay the four coaches of the national team up till the end of the World Cup campaign in order to avoid distractions at the football showpiece,” observed Inyama.
The plan is similar to the strategy employed by the board last year on the way to Nigeria’s victory at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Nigeria will play Iran, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Argentina in Group F in Curitiba, Cuiaba and Porto Alegre.
Inyama, who extensively touched on the recent disagreement between Keshi and the technical committee of the federation, said Keshi had given reply to the federation’s query within the time frame and to the satisfaction of his employers.

While pleading that the system should not be heated up before the World Cup which starts in June, Inyama admitted that the query, an administrative procedure between the federation and employee, was blown out of proportion and was not supposed to be in the media.
“ We have a cordial and wonderful relations with Keshi who has surpassed our expectations since he was appointed the chief coach.  The query was a confidential letter and an internal issue not meant to be in public domain. We should not go to the World Cup as a divided house,’’ Inyama pleaded.

The technical committee will meet with Keshi next week where the parties will deliberate on the World Cup list and all issues regarding the team structure.

The Eagles will be based in Vitoria Hotel Concept Campinas, which is about one hour drive from Sao Paulo.
According to Amadu, the venue was chosen after due consultation with the Nigerian Embassy in Brazil which approved the hotel after its officials did a thorough inspection.

The base has since been approved by Keshi who inspected the facilities during the World Cup draw in December last year.
Amadu said the Eagles would fly out of their base to the match venue, a day before a game aboard a charter flight and return to the base immediately after their fixture.

He also hinted that Nigeria intended to run a comprehensive espionage on its three group rivals by asking monitors to check details including the players’ form, in addition to those injured and not playing for their clubs.

-Joy Sports