Abdullahi Sets Up Panel To Probe Eagles’ Bonus Row

The Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has set up a panel to probe the crisis over match allowance involving Super Eagles of Nigeria players in Namibia.

 The Panel will be chaired by Segun Adeniyi who is the Chairman of Thisday Editorial Board and former Special Adviser to Late President Umar Yar’Adua.

Other members are, Onoche Anibeze,Group Sports Editor, Vanguard, Aisha Falode,

 Sports Administrator, Shehu Dikko,Member   of the League Management Company,  

 Akin Oshuntokun, Former MD of the News Agency of Nigeria and Garba Lawal,Former Super Eagles Player.

The Super Eagles had rejected the allowance approved for them by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) after two away games with the national teams of Kenya and Namibia as part of the qualification for the World Cup.

 As a result of the protest, the footballers initially refused to board the plane for Brazil to participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup.

The NFF had offered to pay $5000 for a win and $2500 for a draw, but the players insisted on getting $10,000 for a win and $5000 for a draw. The stalemate was broken by the intervention of the Honourable Minister who got additional funds to make up for the shortfall proposed by the NFF.

The Panel will be chaired Mr. Segun Adeniyi. Adeniyi is Chairman of Thisday Editorial Board and former Special Adviser to Late President Umar Yar’Adua. He was also a member of the Presidential Task Force, which was set up to ensure Nigeria’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup.

The terms of reference of the Panel are:

 a.    Determine the immediate and remote causes of the crisis over the match bonus

b.    Develop a code of conduct for players on national assignments

c.    Any other recommendations that may be deemed necessary

 The panel would be inaugurated Thursday, 11 July 2013, and has two weeks to submit its report.