TheCable

Nigeria’s chances and preparations for the World Cup with Les Bleu of France are being seriously threatened by another bonus row between the players and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Shortly after the team qualified for the next round following the match with Argentina, the players waited for the NFF president, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, at the hotel in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to raise the issue.

However, following a tip-off, he did not turn up and the original plan of the board members and the squad all flying back to Campinas, Sao Paulo, was shelved.

The players flew back on their own along with the technical crew. The following day, training was not held as the players vowed to get their bonus paid upfront before they play France on Monday.

Camp sources told TheCable  that coach Stephen Keshi was completely powerless to force the players out on the training pitch.

The coach is said to be totally fed up with a situation that could easily have been settled with proper planning.

“The failure of the administrators are now putting the work of the technical crew in jeopardy,” the source said.

A board member said he is certain “this is a slight misunderstanding that will be sorted out shortly”.

“This board has never owed the players money, we might seem a bit slow in getting things done but the desire of this President is to see Nigeria progress as far as possible in this competition, so for sure the players will get their money before Monday,” he said.

Ghana and Cameroon had similar situations over bonuses, with the Ghanaian government chartering an aircraft to fly in dollars in cash to pay the players’ bonuses.

The Nigerian team flies out to Brasilia on Friday.