Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, has waded into the controversy surrounding the payment dispute between the Nigeria Football Federation and the country’s women football team, Super Falcons.
The English TV personality, in a tweet using his verified handle on Thursday, wrote, “Pay them!!! @thenff,” with a flag of Nigeria attached to the post.
He made the post after the Nigerian female team recorded a stunning victory against Australia – the host country of the ongoing Women’s World Cup.
According to the Daily Mail, the Super Falcons will not be paid their tournament match bonuses following an announcement from FIFA that all players would receive around £15,760 (AUS$30,000) for participation in the group stages of the tournament.
There were set to be separate payments following each of Nigeria’s group games against Canada, Australia and Ireland in addition to this.
The team had even threatened to go on strike for the first match of the competition against Canada – who are also in the middle of a pay dispute with their own FA seeking equal pay and support with the men’s team, the Daily Mail reports.
The players’ manager, Randy Waldrum, had openly expressed criticism against the treatment of his players.
His previous complaints include disagreements over unpaid wages, poor travel arrangements and the cancellation of a pre-tournament camp leading up to the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the Daily Mail reports.
“I know we are not prepared the way we need to be … I’ve been very frustrated with the federation and the lack of support.
“We were supposed to have a camp for 10 to 12 days in Nigeria before going to Australia for another 10 to 15 days, but the federation cancelled the home camp.
“We have less days than a College pre-season to prepare for the World Cup, and it blows my mind because we’ve known about this since last year,” Waldrum was quoted as saying on the Sounding off on Soccer podcast.
According to the Daily Mail, the representative of the federation, Ademola Olajire, called for Waldrum to simply concentrate on the task at hand.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the payment, the Nigerian squad had remained undeterred and unbeaten after two games in the tournament.
