Despite the fate that befell the female national football team on the field of play in Morocco, at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), it is humiliating that the players had to stage a protest to get paid their allowances.
The oddly familiar row signposts a people lacking in self-organization – a shame to the administrators and the country at large. In saner climes that punish misconduct and reward excellence, sports administrators that tripped over their shoelaces to score such own goals should get a straight red card.?
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Nigerian football and its administration are not new to scandals. Most shocking is the refusal to learn from awful episodes to turn a new leaf. For the second time in four years, the Super Falcons’ representation of the country ended as a sob story. In Morocco, the Super Falcons staged a protest over unpaid allowances and bonuses ahead of their third-place match defeat to Zambia.
The football team boycotted a day of training, shunning all entreaties that their dues would be paid once the “intervention fund” from home matures.?
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It was the same payment row at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, where the ladies refused to leave their hotel rooms after losing to Germany and crashing out in the second round of the tournament. Then, the players claimed unpaid allowances for matches played in three years leading to the world cup, coupled with five-day camp bonuses for the tournament itself.
