Players of Kaduna United FC have begun boycott of training sessions in protest over the 19 months salary owed them.
Some of the players who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Kaduna said they commenced the indefinite strike as a last resort.
Players of Kaduna United, which compete in the Nigeria National League, told NAN that they would not honour their remaining matches until they were paid.
They called on the Kaduna State Government to respond to their demands so as to stop the unpleasant development.
The findings by NAN showed that the government, the owners of the club, had yet to release funds for the payment of the salaries and allowances of the players for 19 months.
Some of the players said unless there was concrete assurances by the government between now and July 8, “we shall not play our subsequent matches”.
They claimed that most of them had been finding it difficult to feed while some others said they had been unable to settle their rent arrears.
One of them said: “We have borne enough.
“Most of us are the breadwinners to our families and we have been playing for over a year without receiving our entitlements.
“How do they want us to survive?
“We went on relegation last season because of the challenge of non-payment of our entitlements.
“We travel for away matches without allowances.
“We play our matches fatigued.”
The players then appealed to the new government to look into their plight and settle their claims to enable them to continue with their remaining matches.
One of them said: “We have visited the Permanent Secretary’s office twice without any response.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Sports Ministry, Zakari Haruna, told NAN that the team was facing funding constraints and appealed to the players to exercise patience.
Haruna said: “Everything has procedure.
“So, players should exercise patience as the new government will have to look into their matter and take actions.”
He assured them of necessary action by the government as soon as possible.
NAN.
