Abuja - The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said on Monday that it had budgeted N2.08 billion for preparation and participation of Super Eagles in FIFA World Cup 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Musa Amadu, the Secretary-General of NFA, said this while defending the association’s budget before the House of Representatives Committee on Sports in Abuja.
CELEBRATION… Super Eagles lifting their coach, Stephen Keshi high in celebration after winning the Africa Nations Cup in South Africa. Will they celebrate again in Calabar today after qualifying for the 2014 World Cup at the expense of Ethiopia
Amadu said the amount included the N1. 25billion grants from the Federal Government.
The NFA scribe, who also defended the football house’s financial estimation for 2014, said the N829.89million deficit would be sourced elsewhere to make-up for the government’s grant.
A breakdown of the estimate showed that each Super Eagles player would pocket about $107,500 as winning bonus, if the team goes all the way to lift the World Cup.
Head Coach Stephen Keshi would receive $215,000 as winning bonus if his team lifts the coveted trophy.
Further breakdown showed that each player would get $10,000 for the three matches in the first round, while the Head Coach would get $20,000.
The round of 16 would see each player’s bonus increased to $12,500; $15,000 would be for a quarterfinal win and $20,000 for the semi-final victory.
Also, $30, 000 would go to each of them for winning the final match, while the head coach would earn double of whatever accrued to the players.
Three Super Eagles Assistant coaches, team Doctor, Physiotherapist, Welfare Officer as well as Secretary would receive different amounts as winning bonus
Others to benefit from the winning bonus include the Psychologist, Media Officer, team Security Officer, Match Analyst and Equipment Manager.
Another budget of $204,000 was made to cater for five former Sports Ministers and five former NFA Chairmen and Secretaries, while $800,000 was budgeted for 10 Nigerian artistes.
Godfrey Gaiya, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports commended the leadership of the NFA for the successes achieved so far in football.
He assured the NFA that all hands would be on deck to ensure the deficit of over N800 million was sourced before the start of the World cup on June 12.
“I have always assured Nigerians that funding for our football should not be seen as a problem.
“We have a president that is sensitive to this sector and he has said so time without number that they should make their preparation.
“You can see that there is a grant for the world cup outside the NFA’s main budget and that grant is a proposal.
“The moment we go beyond the round of 16, certainly more money will be given’’, Gaiya said.
The National Institute for Sports (NIS), led by its Director, Dr Sunny Ikhioya, was among the sports agencies that defended its budget proposal.
Ikhioya told the committee that it was regrettable that the institute got only N484.17million as `envelope’ for its 2014 activities as against N556.91million for 2013.
He said that poor funding had always been the bane of sports development in the country especially in the area of training of coaches and sports administrators.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all the agencies under the National Sports Commission (NSC) had their budgets approved by the committee.
This was done in honour of the NSC Director-General, Gbenga Elegbeleye who was a Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports. (NAN)
by Jillur Rahman
Jillur Rahman is a Web designers. He enjoys to make blogger templates. He always try to make modern and 3D looking Templates. You can by his templates from Themeforest.
Follow him @ Twitter | Facebook | Google Plus
No Comment