Cybereagles

http://www.espn.com/soccer/nigeria/stor ... c-friendly

Nigeria players will in all likelihood become the first to receive their 2018 FIFA World Cup bonus payments.

That is the word from Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick, who tells KweséESPN that the squad will receive their payments ahead of Monday's planned friendly against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The NFF and players agreed and signed a graduated bonus structure in November, which is in line with a FIFA directive for all such matters to be dealt with ahead of the tournament to prevent the kind of bonus disputes that have plagued African nations down the years.

As part of that process, FIFA made advance payments of $2million to the national associations.

"FIFA paid $2million and we have been able to raise an additional $800 000. That is what we need to pay the players and prosecute both the remaining pre-World Cup games and the World Cup itself," Pinnick says.

"The players will be paid their share of what we agreed with them as soon as they arrive for the friendly in Nigeria."

If this happens, Nigeria will be free of the bonus rows which have hampered their progress many times at major tournaments.



Amaju Pinnick with former CAF president Issa Hayatou PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images

At their first World Cup in 1994, then-coach Clemens Westerhof left straight from the USA as his team splintered along financial lines after elimination by Italy.

A similar incident in 1998, when the squad allegedly stayed up the night before their round of 16 game fighting for their bonuses, led to a 4-1 humiliation by Denmark.

Adegboye Onigbinde's pre-tournament squad cull precluded any such protests, but by 2002 it was back. And in 2010, it simmered below the surface until Yakubu Ayegbeni's horrendous miss stole the spotlight.

But in 2013, the squad refused to board their plane for the FIFA Confederations Cup, and all out war broke out in 2014, forcing the Nigeria sports minister to make an emergency trip to Brazil.

These players are running out of excuses for bad performances oh ! This NFF is just running like a well oiled machine. Im guessing they will be paid through the first 3 group stages?


Well done!

Oti o. Don't pay o. The boys will be too joyfulocious to do anything meaningful if dem don receive advance dollars o.

Nice, so even the ones that don't make the final 23 will get the bonus?

God Bless Nigeria! we gettting there

I know say Oyinbo no go mention this

Chei una see Rohr they shake head!!!!!!!

Nwakali goal!!!!!!

Do they have any performance bonuses?

maceo4 wrote:Nice, so even the ones that don't make the final 23 will get the bonus?

Same question here(unless there's a pre-World Cup camp bonus included in the FIFA largesse).

They should have paid half and the later half after the world cup. Although, some of these guys get paid well at their clubs.

Benedict Iroha wrote:They should have paid half and the later half after the world cup. Although, some of these guys get paid well at their clubs.

That is the source of most bonus issues that FIFA wanted to avoid during the tournament.

Why not pay them their money now and add performance bonuses?

Benedict Iroha wrote:They should have paid half and the later half after the world cup. Although, some of these guys get paid well at their clubs.

The problem is trust. From past experiences, the players do not trust they'll be paid any money AFTER the competition is over (regardless of promises) so they make a stand for their money during the competition.

if the money issue is settled before the tournament then the team can be focused on making themselves and their family proud. Hopefully SE as a team and Nigeria as a nation will benefit from that as well.......

The NFF Chairman should be proud of his planning so far, there are leaving no stone unturned. Great to see.

Good idea.

Good, so no excuse for bad performance

- Bonuses paid on time
- No player distractions especially on gate crashing players
- Quality friendlies (including a send off)

I think we have all we need to keep it moving

So is the bonus for everybody in camp or what? Are we naming the 23 before the payment of group matches bonus?

WHILE THIS IS GOOD AS A FIRST STEP (DISPROVING PREVIOUS NFF's THAT THERE'S NO SOLUTION TO THE BONUS ISSUE)...


...they need to take it one step further: why not pay it directly to their bank accounts? I'll be surprised if the players get their pay via the traditional checks instead of electronically.
Bell

pajimoh wrote:Oti o. Don't pay o. The boys will be too joyfulocious to do anything meaningful if dem don receive advance dollars o.

... but how will the NFF know the amount to pay? Doesn't winning and drawing a game carry different amount of bonuses?

Will the players be paid with assumption we will win our first three games? If so, will the players refund some part of the monies they collected if we draw or lose (I hope not) a game?

Likely qualification bonus payments.

Shouldn't some of this go to those that played qualifiers?