FIFA WWC: Gusau and Sanusi: If these guys have any iota of shame, they should resign.
Only Nigerians with hearts of stones will not be repulsed at the sight of Ibrahim Gusau NFF president and Mohammed Sanusi Secretary General and other NFF board members claiming credit for the success of the Super Falcons at the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup. If they are honourable men, they will not claim credit for the success of a team they worked against when the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu hosted the team members at the Aso Rock Villa on Monday, they would have resigned since Olukayode Thomas reports.
Introduction
When it comes to disgracing Nigeria nationally and internationally, the NFF and the Sports Ministry always score a flawless A, it’s in their DNA.
Just as they brought Nigeria shame and disgrace at countless games and championships in the past, so they are still doing today.
While Our Girls were putting up scintillating performances on the field, earning us global accolades, the NFF and its inept officials failed in doing basics like adequate preparation, payment of bonuses and allowances and others that other teams performed seamlessly, thus earning us shame and disgrace.
Our Girls' performance earned us the praise from Daily Mail of London Kathryn Batte who described the Super Falcons' performance against England thus:
“It had not been expected to get to this point. England ranked fourth in the world, was the heavy favourite. But this World Cup has shown us that the FIFA rankings are almost irrelevant. The underdogs have prevailed on more than one occasion. England are lucky they did not do so again yesterday.
” Nigeria had multiple chances to take the lead. Early in the first half, Ashleigh Plumptre sent a shot against the crossbar before her second effort minutes later was superbly saved by Mary Earps."
But Gusau and incompetent his team were earning the country negative publicity off the field.
In the lead-up to the World Cup, Randy Waldrum, Falcons head coach, players and the technical crew have been owed two years ago, it was widely reported in national and international media.
The players also threatened to go on strike and vowed not to honour their first match against Canada.
Wright, Samoura and others condemned Nigeria.
Then came more international disgraces. After earning a draw against reigning Olympics Champion Canada and stunning highly rated co-host Australia, former football star Ian Wright took to social media to send out a message, about what the Falcons were going through in the hands of NFF officials despite their glowing performances on the pitch.
“Pay them!!!!!” Wright wrote, lending his voice to the NFF dispute with players over non-payment of bonuses and allowances.
With huge followers on social media, Wright’s message resonated across the world it was a lead story in many broadcast and print media.
Fatma Samoura, FIFA secretary-general added her voice she when told the Falcons and the global press when she visited the Falcons in their dressing room after their goalless draw against the Republic of Ireland.
Samoura said, “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.”
Shortly after Samoura's statement which cast Nigeria in a bad light internationally and show our officials as dishonest, Nigerian players with huge social media followership like Victor James Osimhen, Victor Anichebe, Odion Jude Ighalo, also took to various channels asking the NFF to pay the players.
Napoli striker Osimhen wrote" Pay them @thenffofficial," Osimhen tweeted with a face-palm emoji depicting frustration.
"NFF never still stop these things," Odion reiterated with the same dumbfounded emoji.
Then came FIFPRO, the global players’ union. They described the Falcons as "extremely frustrated" having to "pursue the NFF for these payments before and during the (FIFA Women's World Cup) tournament."
FIFPRO said, "regrettable it is that players needed to challenge their federation at such an important time in their careers."
Onumonu scattered the table.
Super Falcons Ifeoma Onumonu's interview with the global media on the team’s preparation for the World Cup practically scattered the table.
Onumonu said “I’ve seen what [resources] England have access to,” said the forward, who plays her club football for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the US.
“In Nigeria, we don’t have access to much. Our training fields aren’t great. Where we sleep isn’t great. Sometimes we share beds.
“It’s not good enough. In terms of recovery, we don’t have much of any of that. We don’t have access to a gym in a camp in Nigeria.
“[Back home] the [pitches] aren’t great. The grass is rocky, bumps everywhere. The stadium we play on for qualifying – you’d be surprised. I was surprised. You don’t even know where the ball is going to jump at you.
“Our under‑20s went far in their World Cup and when they were sent home, they were sleeping in airports for 24 hours. That’s not acceptable. What we have to fight for is bigger for us.
‘We are very good individually and collectively. It’s a mindset,’ ‘We can talk about what we don’t have but we’ve got to get the job done either way.’ Onumonu said.
Waldrum queries the misappropriation of FIFA’s $960,000 grant.
Team coach Waldrum after being pushed to the limit also said “I am not going to be quiet anymore. In October, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World Cup. Where is that money?” he asked.
“Up until about three weeks ago, I had been owed 14 months' salary, and then they paid seven months' salary.
“We still have players that haven’t been paid for two years ago when we played the summer series in the USA…it is a travesty,” the coach said.
'I know we are not prepared the way we need to be … I've been very frustrated with the federation and the lack of support,' Waldrum said on the Sounding off on Soccer podcast.
'We were supposed to have a camp for 10 to 12 days in Nigeria before going to Australia for another 10 to 15 days, but the federation cancelled the home camp.
'We have fewer days than a College pre-season to prepare for the World Cup, and it blows my mind because we've known about this since last year.'
Why inadequate with a federation run by a PHD holder on $10,000 monthly?
Sanusi's management does not reflect his academic qualifications or that of a man that should be paid $1000 monthly instead of the
$10,000 he currently earns.
With almost $ 1 million in grants from FIFA and the Federal Government of Nigeria's approval, the sum of $1.7m for the Super Falcons' smooth participation should be as easy as ABC especially if your secretary-general claimed he has a PhD, but Sanusi has over the years shown a level incompetence that strained the descriptive power of a single adjective.
A wise man without the chains of degrees that Sanusi claims he has and without funds from both FIFA and the Federal Government will prepare the Falcon for them without a problem.
How? A promissory note from FIFA is guarantee cash which is good enough to take an overdraft or loan from any bank in Nigeria. Since the inflow from FIFA will be paid into the bank, most of the banks in Nigeria embrace the idea with open hands.
A wiser man will even sell to the bank the idea of any of them being named the team or NFF Official Bank and make some money for the NFF.
But Gusau, Sanusi and other members of the board of NFF have shown over the years that they are deficient in ideas, it’s all about writing memos and memos and memos.
In their memo to the government for the FIFA Women’s World Cup they included allowances for yet to be appointed Minister of Sports, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the general secretary of NFF, four NFF board members, the NFF president, three management staff, three ministry aides, NFF officials, two State Football Association Chairmen and one state FA secretary.
The fund covers Nigeria’s participation from the group stage to the final, now that the Super Falcons crashed out in the round of 16 what happens to the balance, it may probably enter voice mail.
That Amaju Pinnick's successor, Gasau is like him is not surprising, every animal produce after its kind.
That Pinnick employed an unskilled Sanusi, and he paid him $10,000 and Gusau retained him says a lot about the acumen of the immediate past and current president of NFF, and most probably, they could all be united by dishonesty.
Discerning Nigerians will not allow Team Gasau to play on our intelligence like they attempted to do on Monday when they met the First Lady.
We will continue to expose these ‘undertakers’ who are only interested in what they will gain from football and the national teams and don’t care about our reputation nationally and internationally, it’s all about milking the system, no patriotism, no empathy, no thought of their daughters trading places with the girls and the boys that see football as a ticket out poverty, its all about me, me and me for the majority of our football and sports managers. If they have any honour, they ought to have resigned.
PULL QUOTE: 'We were supposed to have a camp for 10 to 12 days in Nigeria before going to Australia for another 10 to 15 days, but the federation cancelled the home camp.
PULL QUOTE: “Our under‑20s went far in their World Cup and when they were sent home, they were sleeping in airports for 24 hours
