Players of the U20 team of Nigeria are back in the country following their campaign at the U20 World Cup in Argentina, where they were knocked out in the quarter final by South Korea.
The Ladan Bosso led team gave a good account of themselves at the tournament with a group stage win over tournament’s finalist Italy and also knocking out the host Argentina in the round of 16.
Some of the players have expressed their displeasure at the way their welfare was handled by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) saying the coach of the team was the reason why they didn’t go on strike. He said the same disgrace Nigeria faced in 2019 and also the 2017 U20 team would have happened again if not for the coach.
” In camp we got to a point where we said enough is enough and we don’t play until we get our bonuses which they said it’s $2,000 for a win. We only got $2,000 despite winning three games and not even a single penny was given to us as camp allowance even appearance fee wasn’t paid”, one of the players told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Another player said the coach in the company of a backroom staff of the team explained to them how the 2017 team went on strike on the eve of the second leg of their qualifiers game and ended up not making it to the U20 Africa Cup of Nations. He said reference was also made about the 2019 team at the World Cup, who refused to leave their hotel after their elimination thereby bringing shame to the image of the country.
” Bosso kept on drumming it in our ears that doing well at the tournament will be more beneficial to our careers in the future than any financial benefit we will get from the NFF. We almost lost it but he kept us on our toes with stories of the 2017 U20 team and that of 2019. It wasn’t easy at all”, he said.
Damian Waziri
