Bonus fight: Panel blames Keshi, Eagles, NFF

Posted by admin Headlines, Soccer, Sports Thursday, August 22nd, 2013

The committee set up by the Minister of Sports Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi to investigate the bonus disagreement in Windhoek, Namibia between the Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Federation has blamed the players; their coach Stephen Keshi and the NFF officials.

The panel headed by a former Presidential spokesman and Chairman of Thisday Editorial Board, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, was inaugurated on July 11 by Abdulahi, to investigate the circumstances that made the players to refuse to board a flight out of Windhoek to Sao Paulo for the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil in June. The strike action made the Eagles to arrive in Brazil late.

Adeniyi who spoke during the presentation of the report to the minister in Abuja on Thursday said the players humiliated the nation by their action. He said the Eagles failed to weigh the implication of their action given the fact they were elaborately received by the Federal Government and Nigerians generally three months earlier for winning the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

The check list proved that the Eagles and their technical crew were paid about N207m as match-win bonuses up to the semi final stage in South Africa 2013.

Adeniyi told the gathering that the technical crew led by Keshi failed to stop the strike, “because of their pecuniary and vested interests.”

He blamed federation officials for not formally conveying the decisions to cut the bonuses to the players before the crises reached the peak in Namibia after a World Cup qualifying match. Adeniyi said the bonus problem degenerated because of mutual distrust by the parties, lack of discipline by the players as well as lack of leadership by those in charge of administration at the critical time.

Abdulahi said that the recommendations would be implemented fully while thanking the panel for the perspectives and detailed efforts in producing a code of conduct for the Eagles. The minister added that the report would be sent to President Goodluck Jonathan because of the seriousness accorded it.

Adeniyi said the committee expanded its scope of reference by speaking with some of the players and officials including the Eagles team Secretary, Dayo Achor. He confirmed The PUNCH earlier report that Mikel Obi, Austin Ejide and Vincent Enyeama snubbed the panel. He said that they, however, spoke with six home-based Eagles and national captain Joseph Yobo, who in his capacity got in touch with Mikel, Ejide and Enyeama.

Adeniyi added, “Their refusal to respond to our telephone calls did not in any way vitiate our findings because we spoke at length with Yobo to get an idea of what went wrong.”

Yobo, incidentally, was not in Namibia during the strike as he has not featured for the Eagles since February.

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