The World Cup journey for Nigeria is only partially over after being eliminated from the tournament by Germany in the round of 16 on Saturday.
Nigeria’s athletes had refused to leave their hotel and head home until all players have been paid their outstanding wages — including daily allowances while competing in France as well as bonuses owed from two years ago. According to ESPN, the members of the Nigerian team had previously only been paid half of the nearly $5,600, or two million Nigerian naira, owed from matches that took place in 2016 and 2017.
A deal was finally brokered between the Nigeria Football Federation and the women’s team that brought the sit-in to an end, however a complete resolution is still pending.
“They paid us 1 million [naira] and said that is all. We want them to pay the balance,” one player told ESPN before the team agreed to leave the hotel. “Part of that money is from two years ago, the other is from three years ago. And they are also owing us five days' daily allowance here in France.”
The Nigeria Football Federation previously disputed the claims, saying the players have been paid “everything they are being owed”, per president Amaju Pinnick, with the exception of the World Cup participation fee, which the tournament organizers are scheduled to pay out in September.
To end the protest, the team agreed to begin heading home as long as they received their bonuses on Monday.
Nigeria’s women’s team has protested over unpaid wages and bonuses on multiple occasions in the last two decades. In 2016, the team held a public rally in the Nigerian capital of Abuja due to unpaid allowances, while in 2004 the team held a similar sit-in at their hotel in South Africa until their allowances were paid. Both protests came after the team won the Africa Women Cup of Nations.
The athletes attempted to avoid another conflict on the world stage before traveling to France, telling ESPN they asked for a meeting with the federation to discuss bonuses as the men’s team did in 2018, however their letter was “ignored”.
This tournament marked the eighth World Cup appearance for the Nigerian women, with their best finish coming as a quarter finalist in 1999.
By Blake Schuster
Yahoo
Showing posts with label women's world cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women's world cup. Show all posts
Monday, June 24, 2019
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
France beats Nigeria 0-1 in Women's World Cup
It took a remarkable six-minute period in the second half for what had been a largely uneventful Women's World Cup
match to come to life in Rennes as France beat Nigeria 1-0 in dramatic fashion.
The task facing Nigeria's Super Falcons before a partisan 28,267 crowd at Roazhon Park had always been deemed a formidable one.
France had won 15 of its last 16 games coming into its final group match -- conceding only six times in the process -- but the Super Falcons seemed up to the task until the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) came into play in the 73rd minute and created a period of theater.
Nigeria defender Ngozi Ebere had brought Viviane Asseyi down inside the box, leaving the referee with little option but to award the spot kick once Melissa Borjas had opted for a VAR check.
Ebere was subsequently shown a red card for a second bookable offense, while France defender Wendi Renard went on to hit the post from the spot -- only for VAR to give France a lifeline by penalizing Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie for stepping away from her line before the ball was hit.
Renard retook the penalty and this time dispatched her effort with aplomb to give the hosts what proved to be the match-winning goal.
In 18-year-old Nnadozie -- who became the youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at a World Cup in Nigeria's victory over South Korea -- Nigeria had a player who had stood up to whatever came her way, until the teenager suffered a harsh lesson on the biggest stage of all.
"If I give you my honest feelings, they'll probably send me home so it's better I don't say anything," Nigeria coach Thomas Dennerby told reporters after the match.
"My players are heroes. Of course I'm disappointed by the result, France is a really good team and don't need support from anybody to win games. The girls were fighting so well, they followed the match plan and it's getting destroyed by people that we're not so happy with."
Nigeria, which did not muster a shot on target against France, must now wait to learn if it has done enough to reach the last 16, while France -- winning all three group matches for the first time in its history -- will play its last-16 match in Le Havre after topping Group A.
By George Ramsay and Aimee Lewis
CNN
match to come to life in Rennes as France beat Nigeria 1-0 in dramatic fashion.
The task facing Nigeria's Super Falcons before a partisan 28,267 crowd at Roazhon Park had always been deemed a formidable one.
France had won 15 of its last 16 games coming into its final group match -- conceding only six times in the process -- but the Super Falcons seemed up to the task until the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) came into play in the 73rd minute and created a period of theater.
Nigeria defender Ngozi Ebere had brought Viviane Asseyi down inside the box, leaving the referee with little option but to award the spot kick once Melissa Borjas had opted for a VAR check.
Ebere was subsequently shown a red card for a second bookable offense, while France defender Wendi Renard went on to hit the post from the spot -- only for VAR to give France a lifeline by penalizing Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie for stepping away from her line before the ball was hit.
Renard retook the penalty and this time dispatched her effort with aplomb to give the hosts what proved to be the match-winning goal.
In 18-year-old Nnadozie -- who became the youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at a World Cup in Nigeria's victory over South Korea -- Nigeria had a player who had stood up to whatever came her way, until the teenager suffered a harsh lesson on the biggest stage of all.
"If I give you my honest feelings, they'll probably send me home so it's better I don't say anything," Nigeria coach Thomas Dennerby told reporters after the match.
"My players are heroes. Of course I'm disappointed by the result, France is a really good team and don't need support from anybody to win games. The girls were fighting so well, they followed the match plan and it's getting destroyed by people that we're not so happy with."
Nigeria, which did not muster a shot on target against France, must now wait to learn if it has done enough to reach the last 16, while France -- winning all three group matches for the first time in its history -- will play its last-16 match in Le Havre after topping Group A.
By George Ramsay and Aimee Lewis
CNN
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