A
benefactor has promised a bonus of $30,000 to each Nigerian player
should they win gold at the Rio 2016 men’s Olympic football tournament
in Brazil according to the BBC.
Celebrated Japanese plastic surgeon
Katsuya Takasu announced his desire to reward the 1996 Olympic football
champions, along with $20,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze after
hearing about their financial woes.
“I read about the financial problems affecting the team and I felt the need to make a big contribution,” Takasu told BBC Sport.
“I am not doing this for media attention
but to motivate a team with an indomitable spirit. I fell in love with
the Nigerian team because despite all these problems they are in the
quarter-finals of the Olympics.
“Whether they win or not, I will still
donate something to help alleviate the challenges in paying their
bonuses and allowances.”
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
were impressed by this gesture but are being careful. “I have been in
direct contact with Mr Takasu and impressed by his gesture,” NFF
vice-president Seyi Akinwunmi told BBC Sport.
“But we need not get carried away
because the integrity of the country is at stake. First we must check
about this. Significantly, the team has an important game and we need to
focus on that.”
Before arriving in Rio, the ‘Dream Team
VI’ were held up in Atlanta, USA, because of a problem with the payment
for their flight.
The 1996 Olympic champions only landed
in Brazil just hours before their opening 5-4 win over Japan. Nigeria
had a troubled build-up to their quarter-final against Denmark in
Salvador on Saturday.
The players boycotted a training session
in a dispute over pay, and their injured top scorer with four goals –
Ogenekaro Etebo – has been ruled out of the match but will return should
Nigeria advance to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Olympic team have
now received their camp allowances from the government, according to
the team’s media officer Timi Ebikagboro.
“The sports ministry has cleared all
camp allowances of the team in Brazil. Players and officials have now
been paid 22 days allowances,” said Ebikagboro.
No comments:
Post a Comment