Flying Eagles Refuse To Board Their Flight Out Of Poland In Protest Over Unpaid Wages, Bonuses Of N1.7M Per Player.

2019 Flying Eagles of Nigeria have refused to leave Poland in protest over unpaid wages and bonuses

Paul Aigbogun’s men will now leave on Wednesday after the NFF promised to pay the owed wages and bonuses in Abuja.

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria refused to board a flight out of Poland on Tuesday, June 4 in protest of the failure of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay wages and bonuses of N1.7m ($5000) per player.

The Flying Eagles were due to fly out of Lodz in Poland on Tuesday after they lost 2-1 to Senegal in the second round of the ongoing 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup on Monday, June 3.

But the players refused to leave their hotel in Lodz in protest over their unpaid wages and bonuses.

The N1.7m per player is from N716,000 ($2000) in bonuses and camp allowance of N35,000 ($100) per day

Pulse Sports, however, understand that the team has agreed to leave on Wednesday, June 5 after being promised that they will be paid in Abuja.

They only managed to reach the round-of-16 as one of the best third-place teams after one win, a loss and a draw in the group stage.

The NFF in their own words say that the team is expected to leave for Nigeria on Wednesday after what they called ‘a minor delay’.

The NFF according to several reports have failed to get approval for the release of funds from the Federal Government.

This is not the first time a Nigerian national team has protested over owed wages and bonuses.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup refused to train in protest over their bonuses and appearance fees just before their round-of-16 clash against France.

In 2016, the Super Falcons had two sit-protests at hotels in South Africa and Abuja and also hit the streets of Abuja in an outcry over unpaid allowances just after they won the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON).