Hottestgistnaija.com
The Nigeria Football Federation said on Tuesday that it had concluded arrangement to clear the backlog of salaries owed the coaches of the various national teams.
Emeka Inyama, the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of NFF, who said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja, explained that government policy was responsible for the delay in payment.
“You know the Federal Government approved some money, but at the end of the year Dec. 31, the money had to go back to the federation account to return again.
“So, that is what has delayed the payment of coaches like John Obuh and the rest of them.
“As I speak to you, the four months outstanding salaries for coaches of the Super Eagles are being processed for payment.
“The mandate is being signed as at now, they will get the alert by Wednesday or Thursday.
“Also, the outstanding salaries of coaches of all national teams including those who are no longer serving with us are being processed and will be paid by next week.”
Inyama who is also a board member of the NFF pointed out that the football house would go a step further to pay the Super Eagles coaches up to the end of June to ensure that the coaching crew was not distracted from its World Cup assignment.
According to Inyama, the strategy was deployed during the Africa Nations Cup when the team received three months’ salaries ahead of time.
He explained that former Super Eagles assistant coach, Sylvanus Okpala, might have to wait for the outcome of the suit he filed against the NFA to benefit from the payment.
“For us, coach Okpala has taken Nigeria to court. As you are aware; he is in Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“So, we expect coach Okpala to then await the outcome of this court he has gone to rather than going to the media berating the federation.
“We felt he has done what he felt was the right thing to do.
“We will expect that he allows peace to rain and let us meet in CAS because CAS will definitely invite NFA for our own comments and side of the story.
“At the end of the day, they will give ruling and for all of us that know, it’s the highest court in sports matters.”
Inyama noted that there was no cause for alarm on the perceived disagreement between the NFF and Keshi over the submission of Eagles provisional list for the 2014 World Cup.
He said Keshi had enjoyed all the support from the NFF since he was engaged as Eagles boss, adding that all his programmes had got express approvals.
He commended Keshi for the fantastic results so far achieved in the cause of his assignment, noting that they had brought respect to the football house and the country in general.
Inyama reiterated that the NFF had no plans to hire any foreign assistant for Keshi and had no plans also to replace him with another coach ahead of the World Cup.
He noted that query given to Keshi over his absence at the technical committee’s meeting two weeks ago was blown out of proportion.
The NFF board publicity chairman noted that the query was only meant for Keshi to give reason for his absence at the meeting and nothing more.
