Minister of Youth and Sports, Barr Solomon Dalung has described this utterance as false and a cluster of esoteric jargons. A press release by Head of Communication Dept., DemolaOlajire on Wednesday 29th August that NFF officials claiming that they have paid the players and officials of the Falconets all their entitlements before and during the world cup as a mischievous story, trying to mislead the public, put the innocent players in perpetual suffering and destroy their zeal to serve their fatherland.
The press release quoted Falconets coach, Danjuma saying, “We had been paid our entitlements before the sports minister came…… ” “We were paid all our entitlements for the camping in Austria and at the FIFA World Cup….”
Minister of youth and sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung while reacting to the above statement during an interview with journalists: “Well I can confirm to Nigerians that the girls (Falconets players) and coaches have not been paid and if anybody is claiming that he/she has paid them, I think the person is being economical with the truth and its pathetic that young Nigerians who have served this country selflessly like the young girls could be made to undergo what they are facing at this point in time.
“This will only destroy the zeal to serve their country.
He stated why he has to personally intervene to bail the team out of their predicament.
“They were owed quite a large sum of money because since they went to camp on the 10th May, they have not been paid a dime. The little that was paid to them was as a result of my intervention and they were paid half allowances of participation allotment. So, they are still being owed and anyone who said otherwise is a liar and does not have the interest of Nigeria football and players at heart.”
But, i think the NFF should be more transparent and open to disclose to Nigerians the truth about these innocent young girls.
