Women’s World Cup: FIFA Excites Players With Direct Prize Money Payment

• Courtesy Super Falcons, NFF’s beef

BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – Obviously responding to controversies surrounding unpaid allowances by some of its affiliate Football Federations, the World Football governing body, FIFA has announced plans to pay prize money directly into players’ accounts at the ongoing women’s World Cup being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Confirming the development, already being heralded as ‘good news’ by players featuring at the global football carnival, FIFA Secretary-General, Fatma Samoura, specifically hinted that the policy change is due to the embarrassing unpaid allowance issues between Nigeria’s Super Falcons and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

In a video that has gone viral on social media, Samoura acknowledged that “things have been tough” for the Falcons, adding that for the first time, FIFA would closely monitor and ensure that match bonuses got to the participating players directly.

“I know that things have been tough. We have to face the realities of Nigeria. It pains me a lot. It is because of you (the Super Falcons) that, for the first time, the prize money has been ring-fenced in the history of FIFA to ensure that it goes to you,” Samoura said.

By the announcement, every player participating in the World Cup group stage would be entitled to $30,000. Another cheering news is that the match bonuses will increase to $60,000 in the last-16 round of the competition.

Recalled that just before the tournament’s flag-off, the Super Falcons Head Coach, Randy Waldrum, had revealed that some players were owed “per diem and bonuses” for more than two years running

The development caused a stir and almost derailed the teams’ preparation with most players threatening to boycott the training sessions as part of protesting their unpaid bonuses. – With agency reports