Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Melvin Amaju Pinnick has come out with another angle to the ongoing debate about how the soccer governing will spend and disburse the much-talked about financial leverage they have received from the global organ, FIFA, and disclosed that part of the money would be used in organizing a camp for the Super Eagles in Austria.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, although many Nigerian football fans and journalists have been harping on the need for the Football House to spread the money among male and female clubs in the domestic leagues, Pinnick stressed that the funds are meant for various aspects of the round leather game in the country, including financial matters affecting the national teams as well as structural issues.
He added during Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos that, in as much as Nigerians would want to see the largesse from FIFA disbursed as palliatives to ameliorate current economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic on football clubs, players and coaches, the NFF will have to follow all guidelines regarding the money as outlined for them by the global body.
This would surely revive memories of Pinnick’s declaration in May, when the former chairman of Delta State Football Association and Delta Sports Commission stressed that a much-talked about sum of $500,000 released to the NFF by FIFA was not a ‘palliative’ to battle economic effects and setbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He declared back then that the said money is mere a regular statutory payment from FIFA, only that it was released early to enable football federations across the world meet their operational obligations to officials, staff, affiliates and other stakeholders.
The NFF top shot, though, acknowledged that FIFA had released a total amount of $150m to be shared among its 211 member bodies as the first step of relief to assist the football community that has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Independent checks confirmed that the money, which was shared at $500,000 to each national governing body, was also meant to serve for matters of operational funding for 2019 and 2020, but FIFA, which disclosed that it will provide $1.746 billion in total over the 2019-2022 period, sourced the funds from its ‘Forward 2.0 Programme’ that was launched in 2016.
An official statement by FIFA also revealed that the funds would normally be delivered only on fulfillment of specific criteria, but they had to make the pay out early due to prevailing health and economic conditions across the world, which also occasioned a need for relaxation of rules and regulations guiding such funds.
Consequently, the NFF are now bound to spread their tentacles in the disbursement process of the said money, and Pinnick has disclosed that a chunk of it will go for the Eagles, who only this week were named among the to-20 most valuable teams across the world of football.
The report by Transfermarkt, also revealed that Nigeria’s squad is the second most valuable of all football teams in Africa, but the Eagles’ status of €216.65m is only good enough for 19th spot in the world and behind Senegal’s €319.78m on the continental scales.
England are rated most valuable national team in the world with €1.12bn, which puts them well ahead of second-placed France, while Brazil are third on €913.60m, Spain fourth with €735.40m and the top-10 class is completed by Germany, Belgium, Italy, Argentina, Portugal and Holland.
With international football action now bound to resume in the coming month, Pinnick hinted that the NFF aim to start early in ensuring that the Eagles justify their current valuation and possibly do even better throughout the remaining part of the year, hence the Nigerian soccer body’s decision to devote part of the FIFA largesse towards giving the team a camp in Austria.
Pinnick expatiated: “We already have where we are going to spend money after the lockdown ends. It is not only for clubs and personnel. We have plans for the Super Eagles’ to have their camp in Austria, where they will play two international friendlies in September.
“That means we have many areas of expenses, but we have directives that we have to obey. It means we will follow FIFA’s instructions in the distribution of the palliatives.”
