The Minister-ial Committee on the Super Eagles bonus row in Namibia yesterday blamed indiscipline on the part of the Super Eagles, lack of leadership by Coach Stephen Keshi and the management of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF for the crisis.
Chairman of the Ministerial Panel, Olusegun Adeniyi said while submitting the Committee’s report to the Minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdullahi that the bonus payment has over the years been mismanaged by all the parties involved, resulting in avoidable crisis that have on different occasions sullied the image of the country.
‘’From the 1994 World Cup qualifying matches to the 2002 Africa, Cup of Nations tournament in Mali, to the recent case in Namibia, bonus row has been a recurring challenge for our football administration.’’
Adeniyi said that mutual distrust by all the parties concerned, indiscipline on the part of the players, and the lack of leadership by those in charge of their affairs at the material time are responsible for the persistency of the bonus row in the national senior team.
‘’In the particular instance in Namibia, one thing was clear from all the submissions made to our panel and the interactive sessions we held with critical stakeholder: the Super Eagles players who were handsomely rewarded by Nigerians for winning the African Cup of Nations, AFCON tournament only three months earlier could not appreciate the implication of embarrassing their country while the technical crew conveniently looked the other way because of their own pecuniary and vested interests. Of course, the football administration was also tardy in the manner in which it handled communication on the bonus issue by not formally conveying its decisions to the players ahead of the tournament.’’
The former Special Assistant to late President Musa Yar’ Adua on media matter said the committee invited the Nigeria Football Federation, Super Eagles Captain, Joseph Yobo and six home based players in the course of their seating. He, however, disclosed the a call was put to Vincent Enyeama, Mikel Obi, Austin Ejide but only Yobo returned the call and the committee had discussion with him on the bonus row.
Adeniyi noted that the Super Eagles should realized that the real incentive for any footballer invited to the national team is principally the privilege and pride of wearing the national colours of his or her country.
‘’To that extent, bonus payment should really not be an issue. In most countries, it is usually determined by the football administration according to their financial standing and the importance of the matches or tournament at hand.’’
Meanwhile, the minister of sports Bolaji Abdullahi commended the committee for the dedication to the assignment, noting the contents of the reports would be studied and implemented.
‘’We are going to implement the report to the later. We will communicate to the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan the details of the report and seek his approval to implementing it. The problem of bonus has been with us for many years and it must stopped. We are the generation to put an end to it and the time is now.’’