AWCON: Super Falcons boycott training again over unpaid bonuses

The Super Falcons of Nigeria have boycotted their Wednesday evening training in protest of their unpaid match bonuses.

The team is billed to play Zambia on Friday in the third-place match of the ongoing CAF Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) after their penalty loss to Morocco in the semi-final.

According to BBC, the players refused to leave their hotel for training ahead of the game due to the non-payment of their allocated allowances for the wins over Botswana, Burundi and Cameroon.

“The players have refused to leave their hotel in Casablanca over unpaid bonuses,” a top Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official was quoted to have said.

“There is also an issue over the unpaid first five days of camp, which the players expected in their bank accounts but has not arrived.”

Reacting to the situation, Ibrahim Gusau, a member of the NFF executive committee, said the reason for the delay in the payment of their bonuses is due to “the problem we are having with foreign exchange.”

“I came here to explain to them what exactly is the problem. Everybody is aware, especially in Nigeria, of the problem we are having with foreign exchange,” he said.

“We are doing our best to make sure that the money gets to their accounts. But if you’re current with the Nigerian situation, you’ll know that a lot of businesses have been complaining about the shortage of foreign exchange.”

A source close to the ministry of sports told TheCable that “the money issues are being sorted,” adding that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an intervention fund for the team.

“Mr President has given approval for the intervention fund requested by the Ministry for the Super Falcons, the Ministry of Finance is working on processing and releasing the funds. So the money issues are being sorted,” the insider said.

The boycott episode is not the first time the Falcons will be protesting over unpaid allowances at a major competition.

Similar incident occurred at the 2004 AWCON in South Africa. It was followed by the one that took place when they claimed their eighth continental title in 2016. The last was a sit-in protest at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.