House of Reps summons NFF over Super Falcons’ unpaid wages

Ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup beginning next week in Australia and New Zealand, the House of Representatives summoned the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to its chamber on Thursday over issues bothering on Super Falcons’ unpaid wages and allowances.

The House also asked the NFF to immediately pay outstanding match bonuses and allowances to the Super Falcons.

At the floor of the Green Chamber, Hon. Olumide Osoba, said the House will set up an Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the dispute between the Super Falcons and the NFF and propose necessary reforms to prevent the planned protest and boycott of the Nigeria Female Football team at the Women’s World Cup also to prevent future occurrences.

Continuing, Osoba said the national female football team is facing significant challenges and unrest threatening to disrupt participation in the upcoming Women’s World Cup.

He expressed concerns over the potential embarrassment and negative impact on the nation’s reputation if the planned protest and boycott are allowed to go ahead without intervention as witnessed in previous incidents involving the Nigerian women’s basketball team.

He said: “The Super Falcons have threatened to boycott their opening game on July 21, resulting in potential embarrassment for the government and jeopardizing Nigeria’s participation in the tournament.”

Although, captain of the side, Onome Ebi has denied any planned move to boycott the first match of the competition against Canada, the NFF and the Super Falcons have been at loggerheads over allowances and welfare of the team.