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By Anthony Nlebem
Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro’s indigenous backroom staff are yet to be paid their salaries and allowances and have not been handed contracts nine months after they were hired by the Nigeria Football Federation, The PUNCH reports.
The NFF had in a statement on May 15, 2022 announced the appointment of Portuguese Peseiro as the new head coach of the Eagles, after parting ways with Franco-German Gernot Rohr.
Former internationals Finidi George and Salisu Yusuf were named assistants to the European, with Ike Shorunmu the goalkeepers trainer.
Our correspondent learnt that nine months down the line, the indigenous assistant coaches have not been paid for their services and despite many promises by the NFF, they’ve not been handed contracts as well.
“Right now, I don’t even know if I have any contract with the NFF because we have not signed any contract document since they named us assistant coaches last May,“ one of the affected coaches, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, told our correspondent.
“When we played our match against Sao Tome in Morocco, the NFF told us that because of the election (federation election) that was on the way that they could not pay us. Now that the NFF election has come and gone, the federation is telling us to give them some time. Again, after our match against Portugal they refused to pay us. We will have to wait for our 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea Bissau next month to know if we are still part of the team or not.”
Last November, journalist Osasu Obayiwana stated on his Twitter handle that the NFF owed Peseiro, who is on $70,000 monthly, six months salary and were to pay him $420,000 in total.
The $70,000 monthly salary covers Peseiro’s three assistants, while the Nigerian coaches attached to the team are on a different pay arrangement.
The NFF is currently paying off the backlog of outstanding salaries of Rohr following the intervention of world football governing body FIFA after his contract was terminated by the federation in December 2021.
An official of the federation told The PUNCH that the coaches were yet to be paid, putting the blame on the body’s Legal Unit.
“I really think the Legal Unit has been too slow in getting their (coaches) contracts ready. As for money, it’s no secret that the team is being owed for a number of matches,” our source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.