Flying Eagles: Bosso rejects money for jersey accusation
There were allegations that players better than those that represented Nigeria in Argentina were dropped from the competition because they could not afford the money demanded by the coaches.
Coach Ladan Bosso, who led Nigeria’s U-20 national team to the just-concluded 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup hosted by Argentina, has denied the allegation that he demanded money from players before including them in his team to the competition reports The Guardian.
There were allegations that players better than those that represented Nigeria in Argentina were dropped from the competition because they could not afford the money demanded by the coaches.
Bosso is not the only coach accused of demanding for gratification before choosing players for the national team. Golden Eaglets coach, Nduka Ugbade, has also been accused of dropping some players, who were unable to pay for inclusion, just as the national U-23 coach, Salisu Yusuf, faced the same allegation when his teams, home-based Eagles and the U-23 team, failed to qualify for this year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) and the African U-23 Nations Cup respectively.
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles were beaten in the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup by South Korea. But Bosso, who is seeking re-election as president of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, has denied being in the same boat.
He said in a Lagos radio programme that many factors accounted for the country’s recent poor performances in international competitions. He said: “I don’t compromise on my job and nobody can say that he gave me anything to be a part of my team. That’s why I say that the Federation needs to provide all the support that our coaches need.
“We were able to defeat Italy, which no other Nigerian team have defeated before. We also beat Argentina in their home ground for the first time,” Bosso said.
The former Wikki Tourists coach said that the coaches need adequate support from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to avoid situations where they attend tournaments with players that they should not have in their squads.
There are unconfirmed reports that Bosso is being touted as a possible replacement for Salisu Yusuf in the U-23 national team that failed to pick a ticket to the CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, which produces Africa’s representatives at the football event of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
