FIFA has confirmed that the prize money for the current women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand will be paid directly into the players’ accounts.
Fatma Samoura, FIFA Secretary-General, announced this in a viral video on social media saying the policy due to unpaid allowance issues involving Nigeria’s Super Falcons.
Randy Waldrum, the Falcons head coach earlier disclosed that some players were owed “per diem and bonuses” from two years ago.
The development caused a stir and almost affected the preparation of the Super Falcon players with most of them insisting on missing the training to protest their unpaid bonuses.
Meanwhile, in a video Samoura acknowledged that “things have been tough” for the Falcons.
“I know that things have been tough. We have to face the realities of Nigeria. It pains me a lot. It is because of you (the Super Falcons) that, for the first time, the prize money has been ring-fenced in the history of FIFA to ensure that it goes to you,” the FIFA secretary-general said.
The World football body FIFA had earlier announced that every player participating in the World Cup group stage would earn $30,000.