Editorial: Red Card for Nigerian Football: Players Payment Delays Outrageous, Embarrassing

Nigerian footballers have, over the years, flown the nation’s flag with pride on the continental and global stage. Penpushing Media notes that yet, painfully and repeatedly, they are forced to fight two opponents at once: the rival teams on the pitch and administrative negligence off it.

The persistent delay in the payment of match bonuses and allowances by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), often entangled with federal government red tapism, has once again reared its ugly head at the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, involving the Super Eagles.

This recurring embarrassment raises troubling questions about management, integrity, patriotism, commitment, professionalism, and respect for athletes who routinely put their bodies and careers on the line for national honour.

At AFCON 2025, despite an impressive showing on the field, winning all group matches and a commanding round-of-16 victory over Mozambique, the Super Eagles were reportedly owed match-winning bonuses for four consecutive games. As frustration peaked, both players and members of the technical crew boycotted training sessions and threatened to refuse travel ahead of their quarter-final clash against Algeria in Marrakech.

According to multiple credible reports, the players drew a clear line: no training, no travel, no match until agreed entitlements were paid. It took last-minute government intervention, with explanations centred on administrative process, and foreign exchange processing delays at the Central Bank of Nigeria, to prevent a full-scale boycott.

The Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed on Thursday, 9 January, just two days before the quarter final game against Algeria, that the concerns over unpaid bonuses had been resolved through coordinated action by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria. The question on the lips of Penpushing Media and all Nigerians is ‘Why must the federal government wait for Nigeria to be embarrassed on the world stage before their so called ‘coordinated action’?

For us at Penpushing Media, that Nigeria’s AFCON campaign nearly derailed, not for footballing reasons but for unpaid agreed allowances, speaks volumes about administrative dysfunction, and managerial incompetence.

A shameful pattern, not an isolated case

What makes the AFCON 2025 incident particularly infuriating is that it is far from new. Nigerian football history is littered with episodes where players have resorted to protests, sit-ins, and boycotts to receive what was contractually promised. What a shame of a nation!

In November 2025 before the 2026 FIFA World Cup African playoffs in Morocco, the Super Eagles famously boycotted training sessions over unpaid bonuses, a disruption that many analysts believe contributed to Nigeria’s eventual elimination by DR Congo.

Penpushing Media observes that the story stretches further back. The Super Eagles, refused to train on Thursday, 26 June, 2014, ahead of their knockout match against France at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Then-president Goodluck Jonathan had to authorise an emergency payment to settle players’ bonuses.

Similar standoffs occurred at Confederations Cup 2013 in Brazil, AFCON 2019 in Egypt, and the 2016 Rio Olympics, where former captain John Mikel Obi claimed he personally spent money to cover team logistics amid official failure. Even the women’s team, the Super Falcons, staged a protest and refused to leave their hotel in Abuja over their unpaid allowances after winning the 2016 African Women’s Cup of Nations in Cameroon in December 2016.

Penpushing recalls the insightful account of former Super Falcons star Stella Mbachu, as published in the 8 January 2017 edition of the Punch newspapers: “The NFF has a bad reputation of owing players, which is worrisome. Before the 2014 AFCON, which we won in Namibia, we were owed some bonuses and allowances, which almost caused a rift in the team then’.

‘When we asked the NFF for our entitlements, they said they will pay after the competition. We played and won the title in Namibia and asked for our money again, they said, ‘when we get back to Nigeria.’ Upon getting home, we were told we would receive alerts and till date, after my retirement from the team, the alert hasn’t come.”

Each protest follows the same script: delay, denial, pressure, embarrassment, emergency payment, then silence until the next tournament.

The cost beyond money

While some officials trivialise these disputes as “administrative delays,” they extract a heavy toll. Training boycotts disrupt tactical preparation, damage team morale, and paint Nigeria as unserious in the eyes of opponents and the international football community.

More importantly, they send a dangerous message to young Nigerians dreaming of representing their country: that excellence and sacrifice may not be met with fairness or respect.

It is telling that at AFCON 2025, captain Wilfred Ndidi reportedly offered to personally pay teammates’ bonuses to keep the squad focused, an act of leadership that, while admirable, underscores systemic rot and institutional failure in Nigerian football administration.

Time for probe and reform

The persistent delays in paying allowances and bonuses to Nigerian footballers demand an independent and transparent probe to end the scandal of unpaid allowances to our footballers and halt a cycle that has become both embarrassing and damaging to the nation’s sporting integrity.

Repeated protests, training boycotts and last minute government interventions point to deeper administrative failures within the Nigeria Football Federation and the wider sports governance structure. It is chronic mismanagement that humiliates the nation, destabilises players, and sabotages performance.

Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the next World Cup deserves a comprehensive probe that will look at administrative process and control, human resource, national team financing framework, financial control mechanism, the framework for inviting players and the national team governance structure.

Penpushing Media strongly calls for a formal investigation to establish where funds are being bottlenecked or mismanaged, clarity in the respective responsibilities of the NFF and the Federal Government, and restoration of accountability to a system that appears to react only under pressure. The probe must follow the money, publish every contract and payment trail, name responsible officials, and recommend prosecutions where warranted.

In addition, the investigation should delve into previous promises to national team players by past administrations which were never fulfilled. The current government should correct the wrong of the past for the encouragement of the future generation of Nigerian footballers.

Beyond protecting players’ welfare, such a probe is necessary to safeguard Nigeria’s image, ensure future obligations are honored proactively, and reassure athletes that representing the country will no longer come with uncertainty, frustration and avoidable distraction.

Nigeria cannot continue this cycle of avoidable humiliation. Match bonuses and allowances should not be treated as favours but as obligations, budgeted, ring-fenced, paid promptly, and independent of last-minute government clearances.

Penpushing reasons that if other African countries with fewer resources can pay their players without drama, Nigeria has no excuse. Transparency, automation, and accountability within the NFF and sports ministry are no longer optional, they are urgent necessities. Until we expose and punish those turning athletes’ entitlements into bargaining chips, the cycle of boycotts, firefighting, and national embarrassment will continue.

Nigeria should learn from nations such as Germany, France, Japan, and Switzerland, with well managed and reliable match allowance and bonus payment systems for national football players. These nations are often referenced for their administrative efficiency and transparency, and also known for treating player remuneration as a professional obligation rather than a discretionary privilege, ensuring that appearance fees, win bonuses, and tournament allowances are clearly defined before competitions and paid promptly. Their systems are typically integrated into broader governance frameworks that emphasize trust between players and federations, minimising disputes and distractions during major tournaments.

Until Nigeria learns to honour agreements without protests, boycotts, or public outrage, our football success will remain perpetually threatened by off-field chaos. Until we expose and punish those turning athletes’ entitlements into bargaining chips, the cycle of boycotts, firefighting, and national embarrassment will continue.

It is time to stop celebrating emergency interventions and start preventing disgrace. Paying players on time is not generosity. It is basic governance.

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