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By: Ebenezer Bajela.
Super Falcons Women’s World Cup star, Patience Avre, says she is no longer in contact with some of her ex-teammates following the row that trailed the N10m donated to the Falcons’ class of 1999 by Allen Onyeama, the owner of Air Peace, The PUNCH reports.
The 46-year-old retired footballer, who is now based in the United States, in a video on her Instagram page last year accused some of her ex-teammates of hiding the N10m meant for the entire team.
At an event organised by the Nigerian Football Federation in September 2021, Onyeama donated the money to the team for being the first set of Falcons to reach the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup in 1999.
Speaking with The PUNCH from her base in the US, the mother of two said she had not received her own share of the money ever since, adding that some of her ex-teammates snubbed her, after she cried out over the “injustice.”
“Oh my God, I forgot about it already, but after the outburst, I contacted the former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, and he asked me and the other five players left out to send our details and he promised to send us money, but as I am talking to you right now we didn’t get the money. But that’s not the money we are living on right now. God is blessing us and we are doing good.
“I still keep in touch with some of them but since they took my money, most of them have refused to call me and I haven’t spoken with many of them since then.”
Avre, who had just given birth then and could not attend the ceremony, alleged in 2022 that her ex-teammates present at the event shared the money among themselves and refused to inform the absent five members.
“Instead of you people to accept the fact that you messed up and sidelined your fellow players and officials, you are still insisting that the money was for only those that were present,” she wrote on her Instagram page in 2022.
“The younger Falcons were also given the same amount of money, they shared the money to even those that were not around, even the younger ones were able to act wisely. Greed is the reason some of you are still where you are, you cannot be accountable for little money, how much more when it is N100m. Even the ones I thought would have my back ended up hanging up on me for no reason.
“Shame on those of you who still feel it’s right to say it was for those present. One of you still exposed you all, the things you did in secret came out in the open. I already spoke to Amaju (then NFF president) and he has confirmed my suspicions and assertions.
“I told you all the reasons I couldn’t make it to the award-giving ceremony. I just had a baby and my mom had a surgery procedure. If you did not approve of us getting the money, why did we get our award? Look at the Super Eagles, they did not get to where we got to, but they are being invited here and there for novelty matches and given several awards.
“Who knows because of this action, we probably would not be called upon for another award because of your greedy mischievous attitude. This is not the togetherness you all are preaching about.”