Tension As Senior Super Eagles Stars Unhappy With NFF Over Unpaid Bonuses 9 Months After AFCON 2025
- A report alleged that senior Super Eagles players staged a dressing room protest before their 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in an AFCON 2027 qualifier
- The players are reportedly yet to receive their bonuses from the 2025 AFCON third-place finish, nine months after the tournament ended
- The NFF also reportedly cut player allowances for the Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau matches without telling the players in advance
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Tension has broken out in the Super Eagles squad over unpaid bonuses and welfare concerns, after the team's 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Sports Village Square reported that friction between players and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had been building ahead of the match in Bissau.
Source: Twitter
According to the report, players have not received payment for their third-place finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, nearly nine months after that tournament concluded.
The federation also reportedly slashed allowances for the Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau fixtures without informing the players beforehand.
Dressing room protest before Guinea-Bissau clash
The report said players raised their grievances in the dressing room before the game, with the protest said to have taken place shortly before the team took to the pitch.
Beyond the financial issues, players also complained about the state of the playing surface in Bissau and the quality of accommodation provided by the federation during the trip.
The defeat to the Wild Dogs has put Nigeria's hopes of qualifying for the 2027 AFCON in serious jeopardy.
A pattern of bonus disputes
The current situation echoes events during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, when Super Eagles players boycotted a training session before a match against Gabon in a similar dispute over money.
That episode also drew attention to the recurring nature of welfare disagreements between the squad and football authorities in Nigeria.
The NFF had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of this report.
Why Chelle benched Aina
Legit.ng previously reported that Super Eagles media officer Promise Efoghe hinted that Eric Chelle intentionally benched Ola Aina against Guinea-Bissau.
He claimed that the Nottingham Forest defender could still be dealing with a psychological effect of his injury on a poor pitch in South Africa in 2025.
Source: Legit.ng
