Aisha Falode Insists Women’s World Cup Prize Money Will Be Paid To NFF, Enakhena Makes Threats

Chairperson of the Nigerian Women’s Football League, Aisha Falode has countered quotes credited to FIFA secretary-general, Fatma Samoura that the prize money of the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be paid directly to the players.

A video went viral recently showing Fatma Samoura saying the football body is set to pay Super Falcons of Nigeria and other teams their match bonuses directly to their bank accounts citing the backlog of match bonuses the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is reportedly owing the players.

This came after the Super Falcons of Nigeria drew 0-0 with the Republic of Ireland in the ongoing 2023 Women’s World Cup to seal their qualification for the round of 16 where they will battle with England at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 7.

In that stage of the Women’s World Cup, each of the players is entitled to $60,000 since they earned $30,000 for featuring in the group stage and the same amount for qualifying for the round of 16.

In contrast to Samoura’s reported claims, Aisha Falode said in an interview with Lagos Talks FM on Wednesday that the Super Falcons’ prize money will still be paid to the NFF as usual.

She however agreed with Samoura that the prize money has been “ring-fenced” to ensure that it gets to the players from the NFF without any interference from a third party.

She said, “FIFA did not say it would pay the players directly. It says working through the member association – working through your federations, we will pay you this money through the federations.

“FIFA will pay the federations the money, and the federation pays the players with the instruction. Everybody knows it is there in black and white.”

Meanwhile, Nigerian veteran journalist and football club administrator, Godwin Enakhena who is currently the chairman of Sporting Lagos FC, has vowed to expose anyone who touches the prize money.

“You’re wrong if you think I’m holding forth for anyone or even the NFF. Mark my words, and on my honor, if a dime is taken from this money meant for the Super Falcons, I’ll let the world know”, he tweeted on Thursday, August 3.

Enakhena’s tweet came after he shared a quote from the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, which explains how the prize money will be paid to the 2023 Women’s World Cup participants.

The quote reads, “We have issued recommendations, but we are an association of associations. So whatever payments we do will be through the associations, and then the associations will make the relevant payments to their players.”