The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has swiftly moved to crush any intention of a potential boycott by the Dream Team VI in Saturday’s quarter-final clash with Denmark at the Rio Olympics.
The Nigerian football contingent had earlier threatened not to honour the game with the European nation over unpaid salaries and bonuses.
Coach Samson Siasia’s side even went to the extent of skipping Friday morning training session – a situation the gaffer said he had no control over.
But the president of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick, has poured cold ice on the incident – revealing all disputes has been settled amicably with the team training in the evening.
“I just finished a long telephone discussion with Siasia and I explained to him the situation the NFF is in and why he has not received his salary,” the NFF boss said.
“As I explained last week, we received some money from CAF and I directed that the money be used to offset the salaries of the U23 team coaches and also for the Super Falcons’ coaches.
“The money has come into the NFF account, but it has to first go into our TSA (Treasury Single Account) before we can access it and then use it. The vouchers for the payment have already been done.
“Siasia confirmed that before I spoke to him, the NFF general secretary had also called him to explain the situation to him.
“We are not unmindful of what our coaches are going through in this challenging period and we praise them for their patriotism and hard work despite all these.”
Pinnick also commended the Sports Minister for his concern for the team’s welfare.
“I want to specially appreciate the Honourable Minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung, who had already dispatched accountants to the U23 team hotel to pay the allowances of players and officials before I called the team,” he said.
“The minister instructed the accountants to also pay the four alternate players, who are not accredited for the Games. We commend him for his efforts.”
All things being equal, the 1996 gold medallist will go ahead to face the Danes at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador for a spot in the last four.
