World Football Governing body, FIFA has revealed plans to play footballers participating at the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup directly to their bank accounts.
This new payment plan was revealed by FIFA’s Secretary-General Fatma Samoura during a visit to the dressing room of the Super Falcons after the last group game against Ireland which ended 0-0.
Samoura informed the players that the promised amounts would be paid directly to the players by football’s governing body while expressing her joy over the Super Falcons’ achievement, and noted that the team was on track to regain its place as a leading light in African women’s football.
The Senegalese executive told the Super Falcons in a face-to-face meeting, “I am a proud African, of course, and I am very proud of what you have achieved tonight. It’s good for Africa, it’s good for women’s football and it’s good for Nigeria also.
The FIFA chief further extolled the Super Falcons as the best side on the continent and charged them to keep making Africa proud with their performances.
She told the team, “Your presence here means one thing because you have been consistently playing this World Cup since the first edition, [it shows] that you are the best team in Africa, so make us proud again.”
However, concerns have been raised about said prize money reaching the hands of deserving players after a slew of accusations against the NFF of withholding tournament bonuses by head coach Randy Waldrum.
To ease the fears of a repeat incident, Samoura also noted that football’s governing body was aware of the struggles that the Super Falcons have faced in the past to wrestle funds away from the national FA and promised the team that they would not face a similar situation after the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
She informed the players that would get their prize money directly from FIFA thanks to a new initiative saying, “I know it has been tough… we have to face the reality of Nigeria, which pains me a lot, and it is because of you that, for the first time in the history of the prize money, we have requested the money, to make sure that it goes directly to you [the players].”
This will come as a relief to many players in the Super Falcons, especially given the claims made by head coach Waldrum about the habitual nature of the Nigerian FA to owe its players and staff their due diligence for several months.
Meanwhile, prior to this announcement, the NFF had disclosed that it would pay all Super Falcons’ outstanding allowances once it gets the grants FIFA promised all the national teams participating in the ongoing Women’s World Cup holding in Australia and New Zealand.
Nigeria will play the Lionesses of England in their Round of 16 clash and will be hoping to make further history by making it to the third phase of the competition for the first time ever.
