August 4 – Not for the first time, Nigeria’s footballers have been locked in a payment dispute, this time as they head for the Olympics in Brazil.
On Wednesday the Nigerian Olympic football squad were stuck in Atlanta waiting to move on to Brazil, where they are due to face Japan just after midnight European time Thursday.
“The Nigerian government [sports ministry] is responsible for booking the tickets for the team to travel but we heard there is a logistical mix-up with payments,” a source close to the Nigeria Football Federation told the BBC.
He added that everyone in the NFF was “disturbed” by the situation because Nigeria’s first game in Manaus is so soon. One of the players explained: “We’ve been told to get ready to fly out in few hours but that’s been the story since last week.”
Nigeria are in Group B alongside Sweden, Colombia and Japan. In 1996, they became the first African team to win Olympic gold.
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