The Federal Government has disclosed that the Super Eagles’ match bonuses at the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations have cleared the necessary regulatory stages.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, stated that the payments would be reflected in the players’ domiciliary accounts “starting today or tomorrow.”
Chronicle NG reports that the Super Eagles on Wednesday threatened to boycott travel to the host city of their quarter-final match at the AFCON over unpaid allowances.
Nigeria will play Algeria in the quarter-final on Saturday in Marrakesh, a city about five hours away from their current base. The team is scheduled to travel from Fez to Marrakesh on Thursday.
However, the players and officials were determined to miss the trip until the remaining allowances were paid. The Eagles have yet to receive bonuses for all four matches in the competition.
In November 2024, the players boycotted training during the African World Cup playoffs due to a backlog of allowance difficulties. A few days later, Nigeria fell to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ending the country’s prospects of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Uzoka-Anite responded to the development, stating that the payment delay was caused by the “conversion process to move funds into foreign currency,” which she highlighted was the players’ preference.
She also stated that the process had now been fast-tracked and that the “final transfers to domiciliary accounts are currently in flight.”
“The Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria have successfully streamlined the foreign exchange processing to ensure our players are rewarded without further delay.
“Going forward, the process will be fully streamlined to ensure faster and more predictable disbursements aligned with international best practice,” she said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, disclosed that all financial entitlements of Super Eagles players and officials have been resolved.
Dikko’s statement followed reports of players threatening to boycott training and travel to Marrakech for Saturday’s match against Algeria.
Dikko told reporters that President Bola Tinubu approved the Super Eagles’ AFCON 2025 budget in November 2025, bringing alignment among the NSC, the Nigeria Football Federation, and the players.
