Former Super Eagles captain and coach, Sunday Oliseh, has levelled a massive allegation against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), claiming the body withheld a $1 million payment from FIFA intended for the national team following their qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Speaking on the Home Turf podcast, Oliseh detailed an agreement that was allegedly ignored, leading to the disenfranchisement of the players who earned the ticket.
Oliseh asserted that there was a clear, pre-tournament agreement to equally divide a $1 million allocation from FIFA between the federation and the players, meaning the 30 players who participated in the qualification campaign were due $500,000, translating to approximately $18,000 each. He claimed the NFF deliberately circumvented this payment by dissolving the successful team and replacing key figures. “To get that money, NFF eliminated Oliseh and his assistant captain, Finidi George,” Oliseh stated, suggesting the removal was punitive and designed to remove oversight on the payment process.
The former midfielder further alleged that the federation replaced the core of the qualifying squad before the tournament in Japan and South Korea, thereby ensuring the new players who went to the World Cup finals were not entitled to the qualification money. “We qualified for the finals, and they disbanded the team. They made sure we did not get our share,” he claimed, adding, “The team that went to that World Cup, 80% of that team didn’t play in the qualifiers. That means they didn’t get the share of that money.” Oliseh has long been an outspoken critic of the mismanagement and lack of transparency within the NFF, and these latest claims reignite the debate over financial accountability in Nigerian sports administration.
