NFF On Why Nigeria Lost To France : Super Eagles Players Were Sharing Money In The Night

Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has opened up on why the Super Eagles lost 2-0 to France in the second round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and has indicated that he wants to forestall a repeat of the incident.

The Super Eagles players deliberately missed a training session in protest at the non-payment of a bonus for qualifying, which forced the country’s then sports minister to charter a private jet and fly to South America with nearly $4 million in cash.

''We have a committee called Strategic Studies Committee, one of the things  they do is to work with the Technical Committee, to look out for everything in the past that possibly impeded our success on the field and off the field,'' Pinnick told Channels Television.

''Even beating France in the World Cup was the fact that money was flown from Nigeria to Brazil and that night they were sharing money.

''Even if we don't  perform fantastically or decently, let it not be a human error or any form  of distraction. Let it seem that Nigeria lost gallantly.

''We want to go there  with 100 percent mindset of achieving this.''

The NFF have reached an agreement with the Super Eagles stars as regards to their bonuses at the tournament in Russia.

In addition, 2.4 million dollars (equivalent of N866.4 million) will be paid to Super Eagles players and officials for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel