Barely 10 days to the 2016 Summer
Olympics in Rio, Brazil, the Chief Coach of Nigeria’s U-23 Dream Team VI,
Samson Siasia, has raised an alarm over his team’s ordeals to access funds.According to Vanguard, Siasia and his team have been
training in Atlanta, USA ahead of Nigeria’s participation in the men’s football
event of the Olympics. Though the Olympics begins officially on 5 August,
Nigeria will play their first match of the Games against Japan on 4 August.
Siasia said Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) owes him and the coaches five
months’ salary arrears, while no allowance has been paid to the team in the
last five months.
According to Siasia, the coaches and the players have been
training on ‘empty stomach’ in their Atlanta camp, as he and the boys have been
abandoned in the USA.
“We are being owed backlog of allowances and wages in the
last five months. No single kobo has been pay to the team as at today. I’m
pleading with the NFF and the Ministry of Sports to pay us our salaries.
They
should pay us before the Olympics. We are suffering. No fund at all, even we
have not received the tickets to go to Brazil from here.
“The team have
suffered too much. There is no encouragement to show for our patriotism to the
country,” lamented Siasia. While the coach insists he wasn’t given the country
an ultimatum or threatening to boycott the tournament, Siasia expressed
disappointment with the treatment meted to the Nigeria U-23 team.
“We will not
hold the country to ransom by threatening not to play our matches, but the
government has to come to our rescue. I know that by the time the Olympics will
be over, our monies will not be paid,” said Siasia who won the silver medal of
the football event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The Olympic team are due
to depart the USA for Brazil on Friday.
Barely 10 days to the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil, the Chief Coach of Nigeria’s U-23
Dream Team VI, Samson Siasia, has raised an alarm over his team’s
ordeals to access funds.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/rio-2016-siasia-laments-unpaid-salary-allowances-for-5-months/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/rio-2016-siasia-laments-unpaid-salary-allowances-for-5-months/
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