We Cannot Afford Super Eagles Trip To Zambia – NFF

Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup qualifying bid may have been jeopardized after the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) said it is so broke that it cannot afford to fly the players to Zambia for next month’s third-round qualifier.

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The Super Eagles are expected to jet out to Zambia next month to take on the Chipolopolo in Ndola, which will cost the football federation $270,000 fee, to charter a plane to the Southern African nation.

Due to the crippling economic recession facing the country, the NFF revealed it may not be able to fund the team’s trip to Ndola.

However the football body has said it is now in search of a sponsor to offset the fee.

“As we speak, we don’t have any kobo (a denomination of Nigeria’s naira currency) in our purse,” an unnamed member of the NFF told The Guardian.

“The charges for the Airline alone is $200,000 for a 140-seater plane, and it will be on ground with the team for two days.

“We need between $6,000 and $10,000 for flight ticket(s) to bring in the players (from Europe).”

The NFF member further called on the federal government’s intervention as the players will be paid an additional $95, 0000 each in bonuses.

“The federal government still has to play its part, because this is the beginning of our campaign for the 2018 World Cup qualifying ticket. If we must get it right, every hand must be on deck,” he added.

The NFF have constantly complained of its state of financial constraint, just recently its president, Amaju Pinnick said the football body is broke.

This is not the first time the Nigerian football team is experiencing a problem of this nature, the country’s men football team at the Rio Olympics were stranded at their Atlanta training base and arrived just seven hours before their opening match against Japan, which they won 5-4.

However in a twist of events, the NFF via its Twitter handle, @thenff, on Thursday morning, the NFF described the report as a big lie, adding that arrangements on movement to Zambia have been concluded.

It wrote, “Some persons have perfected the art of concocting stories they feel people want to read about the NFF and passing it off as authentic stories.

“The NFF President Pinnick: We have concluded arrangements on movement to and from Zambia. Any talk of being unable to go is a big lie.

“The NFF has dismissed a report that it cannot fly the Super Eagles to Zambia for a World cup qualifier as a blatant falsehood.”