Unless urgent intervention comes from concerned authorities, the players and officials of the Nigeria U-23 national team, the Dream Team VI, have threatened to boycott the last group match against Colombia should they fail to get their full financial entitlement on or before Wednesday.
The preparation of the team for the Rio Brazil Olympic Games have been marred with controversy following the decision of the team officials to travel to Atlanta, USA for pre-tournament camping, climaxing on the shameful delay in airlifting the team from USA to Brazil.
A highly placed member of the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation revealed that the players and officials took the decision despite their victory against Sweden, which helped them pick the ticket to the next stage of the tournament.
Reacting to the allegations against the football federation instigating the players and officials to hold the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to ransom for the shoddy arrangements that characterised the team’s preparation, the NFF egghead insisted that President Amaju Pinnick did not play any role in the entire saga.
The source said: “I want to make it clear that the president Amaju Pinnick did not play any role in all that transpired in Atlanta, USA.
“The federation informed the Minister and his Permanent Secretary about the traveling of the team to Atlanta for pre-tournament preparation and they gave the team a go-ahead.
“What Siasia did was our usual way of preparing our teams for tournaments.
“He had a one-on-one relationship with the ministry.
“As I speak with you, Siasia and his boys have not gotten a dime from the ministry.
“I want to think that the ministry wants to victimise the team otherwise why didn’t the male basketball team, D’Tigers, pass through the same process?
“Who paid for the camping of the basketball team in USA?
“On daily basis, the team officials had pleaded with the ministry to pay them the allowances but nobody listened to them.
“They did not give the team a dime but the federation prepared it to the best of their ability.
“Everybody will admit that their USA training trip has paid off because the quality of their play can testify to that.
“I want to tell you that the players and officials have threatened to boycott their last match if the authorities concerned failed to pay them their financial entitlements.”