The Nigerian women’s national football team, the Super Falcons, is considering a strike and potential boycott of their opening match in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
This comes after Dr Mohammed Sanusi, the General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, informed them that their match bonuses for the tournament had been cancelled by the federation.
According to a source within the team camp, the decision to contemplate a strike was made during a lengthy meeting among six senior players upon their arrival at the Mercure Resorts, Gold Coast, following Sanusi’s announcement. The players involved in the discussion were captain Onome Ebi, Rasheedat Ajibade, Asisat Oshoala, Ohale Osinachi, Tochukwu Oluehi, and Desire Oparanozie.
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“We are going ahead to press for our demands,” stated a senior player to newsmen. “We are ready to go as far as missing our first game against Canada on July 21 because this has to stop.”
The player further explained, “On Wednesday night, we held a meeting where we agreed that we were going to find out if what we were asking for is legitimate, and that if it’s legitimate, we will press for our demands. It was what was agreed. The next meeting will be after we get the information we need and then the protest will start.”
Prior to the Nigerian contingent’s departure from Abuja for Australia on July 2, it was revealed that Sanusi, during a meeting with the players, informed them that they would not receive match bonuses from the federation. He cited FIFA‘s announcement that each player would be receiving $30,000 during the group stage of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
According to The PUNCH, Sanusi also stated that the players would no longer receive the 30% allocation from the $1,560,000 FIFA grant provided to all member associations for the group stage of the competition.
An inside source recounted the players’ reaction to Sanusi’s announcement, saying, “The General Secretary came for the meeting clutching so many papers; he told us that we won’t be paid match bonuses at the World Cup because FIFA had already given each player $30,000 for the group stage. He also said we won’t get 30% from the $1,560,000 FIFA would give the NFF.”
“Our source said the players were stunned ‘after Sanusi landed the sucker punch.’ ‘The General Secretary came for the meeting clutching so many papers; he told us that we won’t be paid match bonuses at the World Cup because FIFA had already given each player ,000 for the group stage.
He also said we won’t get 30% from the $1,560,000 FIFA would give the NFF. We were shocked, team morale went down immediately because we couldn’t believe what the man was saying,’ our source said.”
During the meeting, one of the team’s senior players questioned Sanusi about whether FIFA would deduct the $30,000 they would provide from the $1.5 million granted to the federation.
However, Sanusi clarified that this would not be the case.
The player then raised the point that if that were true, it should not affect their match bonuses. In response, Sanusi presented the players with a choice between the $9,000 match bonus and the $30,000 from FIFA, leading to further argument and dissatisfaction among the team.
The Super Falcons’ threat to strike and potentially boycott their first match is a direct response to the cancellation of their match bonuses by the Nigeria Football Federation. The players are determined to fight for their demands and are prepared to take drastic measures to ensure their voices are heard.
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