The captain of the Super Falcons of Nigeria, Onome Ebi, has denied that the members of the team are planning to boycott their opening match in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
On Thursday, reports went viral that six senior members of the Super Falcons agreed in a meeting that the team should boycott the opening match over an alleged decision of the Nigeria Football Federation not to pay them match bonuses during the competition.
The NFF reportedly told the players that the federation would not be offering match bonuses because FIFA had previously announced that each player would receive $30,000 during the competition’s group stage.
The NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi also told the players that they would no longer receive 30% of the $1,560,000 FIFA subsidy given to all member associations for the competition’s group stage.
The aforementioned pronouncement allegedly sparked the decision of the Super Falcons to threaten strike action, a report Onome Ebi has debunked in an interview with NFF.com.
She said, “I have no idea where that (boycott) is coming from. We (the players) never had any such conversations as regards that; we are good with training and ready for the World Cup.”
The Super Falcons are grouped alongside Olympic champions Canada, co-hosts Australia, and debutants Republic of Ireland in the 2023 Women’s World Cup which will commence on July 20.
Their first game in the tournament is against Canada on July 21 which is a must-win for the team if they want to stand a chance of making it out of Group B.
While commenting on the preparedness of the Super Falcons, Onome Ebi who is featuring in the tournament for the sixth time said the kind of training the team has been subjected to “speaks for itself”.
“The sessions have been intense, motivating, and okay. The girls are in good shape, in good spirits, and ready to go. The training speaks for itself as regards the mood in camp because this is what I bargained for”, she said.
“The players are meeting up with physical and tactical aspects of training; the mood is okay.”
