LAGOS -The
Nigeria Football Federation has withdrawn its team from the 2014 African
Nations Championship qualifiers due to financial constraints.
Nigeria were set to play Ivory Coast
in Calabar between 21-23 June, in the tournament for locally-based players.
The NFF's Emeka Inyama announced
that the withdrawal was taken by the football authority to cut costs.
"We have a lot of financial
commitments and we have to look at the competitions in order of
importance," he explained.
It means that Ivory Coast have
qualified for the finals to be held in South Africa next year
The reigning African champions have
failed to qualify for the tournament on two previous occasions.
In another move aimed at slashing
costs the NFF has cut salaries and bonuses for their players and coaches.
The federation's technical committee
has recommended that the Super Eagles' win bonus of $10,000 be reviewed
downwards along with the salaries and allowances of the various national team
coaches, excluding coach Stephen Keshi.
"We have talked about auditing
of staff of the national teams, especially backroom staff, as well as pegging
of bonuses and allowances," he told BBC Sport.
"We have a contract with coach
Stephen Keshi and must respect that, so he won't be affected in any way.
"However, we are constrained to
do this as a result of our poor finances and we believe that Nigerians understand
we have to do this.
"It's very important for us in
order to continue to fulfill our obligation of presenting the national teams
for international competitions and tournaments."
Officials have suggested that the
win bonus will now be pegged at $5,000.
The NFF are also planning a total
restructure of backroom staff, with several members set to lose their jobs
while they will appoint a new technical director in the near future.
Former Super Eagles coach Shaibu
Amodu is being tipped to be appointed to the new post.
The Super Eagles have five coaches,
including three assistant coaches, and a total of 17 backroom staff.
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