Speculation that the Super Falcons will skip their opening match against Canada in the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has been refuted by the team’s captain, Onome Ebi.
This week, there were allegations that the Super Falcons intended to skip their matchup with the reigning Olympic winners due to a bonus disagreement with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Ebi, who will be making her sixth World Cup participation, stated the news is untrue and that the players’ meeting in which the bonus issue was brought up never took place.
“I have no idea where that (boycott) is coming from. We (the players) never had any such conversations as regards that; we are good with training and ready for the World Cup,” Ebi told thenff.com at the team’s training camp in Gold Coast, Australia yesterday morning.
Falcons, who are in Group B with co-hosts Australia, Canada and Ireland, have had a turbulent build-up to the global showpiece slated for later this month.
It will be recalled that the head coach, Randy Waldrum, had criticised the NFF over the team’s tournament preparation despite the federation’s assertions that it lacked the means to carry out the necessary plans.
However, considering the fact that FIFA had distributed money to all federations in order to help them prepare for the World Cup, the Houston Dash manager questioned the NFF’s frugal nature.
Waldrum also remarked that a lack of technical staff has impacted World Cup preparations, adding that the Super Falcons only have around half the number of essential staff on their roster heading into the competition, as well as the apathy that he, as national team manager, had experienced.
The competition, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, will run from July 20 to August 20.
