FG to spend N1.2b on Eagles’ mundial campaign

THE Federal Government has approved a budget of N1.25 billion (over $8 million) for the country’s participation in next month’s World Cup in South Africa, according to MTNFootball.com.

The breakdown of the anticipated expenditure shows that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will receive N900 million, while its supervising government agency, the National Sports Commission (NSC), will get N350 million. This expenditure will cover players’ match bonuses and allowances, as well as hotel accommodation during the tourney because FIFA will only subsidise a player’s boarding by $400-a-night.

Nigeria will pay $700-a-night for rooms at its new World Cup training base in four-star Waterfront Hotel at Richards Bay. The Super Eagles will earn $9 million from FIFA for featuring in the first round of the championship and will receive more if it progresses to the knockout stage.

A breakdown of this earning is $1 million as training grant, which it has since received, and $8 million for featuring in the group stage, which it will get after the tournament. For the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, government approved a budget of N500 million (over $3 million) for the competition.

However, MTNFootball.com gathered that the NFF spent over 700 million naira (about $4.6 million). The NFF has since demanded a refund of N200 million from the Presidential Task Force (PTF), a committee set up to compliment the efforts of the football association leading to the World Cup.