Top striker of the senior national team of Nigeria Victor Osimhen has lent his voice to the call made by world football players union FIFPRO over the unpaid wages of the women team of Nigeria.

In a statement shared by all the players on their social media handle, FIFPRO called out the NFF over the non payment of the allowances of the players of the team, that crashed out of the round of 16 at the Women’s World Cup following a 1-0 loss to England.

Reacting to the post former Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo lamented why the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is still in the act of non payment of players entitlement. His statement written in pidgins English translates to ” So the NFF is still in the habit of doing this”, he said on Instagram.

His post was immediately backed by the present top striker of the Nigerian team Victor Osimhen. The Napoli ace was more daring with his comments saying ” Pay them @thenff”. A sentiment also echoed by another Super Eagles forward in Victor Anichebe.

Meanwhile, the NFF have officially responded to the post by FIFPRO with an official release via the media department and it read thus.

NFF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

NFF: FIFPRO’s statement is mere storm in a tea-cup

The Nigeria Football Federation has dismissed as nothing more than a storm in a team cup, a statement issued by the world body of professional footballers, FIFPRO on Tuesday calling on the Federation to pay players of the Super Falcons what they are owed.

The Federation reiterated that it had an earlier agreement with the players on what they would earn at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, but world football-governing body, FIFA came up with a new template that guaranteed more money for the players and which made players of all participating teams happier.

The NFF insisted it does need FIFPRO shouting from far off to pay Nigerian players what they had been promised by both FIFA and the NFF, dismissing the body’s statement as a mere relevance-seeking message.

It recalled that its officials sat down and agreed with the players on what to pay them, but FIFA came up with a juicier package and they were all happy about it. If they had beaten England, for instance, and reached the quarter-finals, the NFF disclosed that the players would have been entitled to $90,000, and not the $60,000 each player will be getting now. A place in the semi-finals would have guaranteed at least $165,000 each (for 4th place, and $180,000 each for 3rd place) for the players.

The Federation praised the team for its efforts at reaching the Round of 16 and standing up firmly to world number four England on the turf, as well as its heroics in the group phase. It noted that not losing a single match out of four in regulation time is a remarkable record by an African team.

The nation’s football-governing body stated that it has no issues with the players; it had assured them before the World Cup that they would be paid the couple of friendly matches and qualifying matches for which they were being owed appearance fees and bonuses respectively. It pledged to pay the money once the World Cup money is paid.

The NFF also charged FIFPRO to stop playing the ostrich and stand up to its real responsibilities, calling on the body to address the real issues. The Federation revealed that after all these years, FIFPRO does not have an affiliate body in Nigeria. It challenged the body to come to Nigeria and set up an affiliate body that can always and legitimately speak on behalf of Nigerian players, and made up of individuals who understand the culture and dynamics of the African environment.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Simoiben football academy have agreed the transfer of 18 year old attacking prospect, Lawrence Shimave Ugen, to Latvian side FC Daugavpils, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The youngster came through the ranks at Simoiben football academy, the team he joined after excelling at the inaugural edition of the Moses Simon Unity Cup, which had 150 teams picked from the various local governments in Benue state.

Nantes winger Simon used the tournament which was held in October last year as a way of not just uniting the youths of the states, but also helped players from the state an opportunity to be seen by scouts to aid their career.

In an interview, club CEO Mrs. Ibukun Sarah Moses Simon confirmed the reports saying there were numerous offers for the youngster, but the academy and the boy sat and decided that the move to the Latvian side was best for his career and further development.

She said “we’re proud of Lawrence and how far he has come and we see this next step as an opportunity for him to further develop his career in a new environment. We wish him all the best in this new journey and we’re certain he’ll shine like the star he is”.

Simoiben football Academy has stood out in recent years producing outstanding talents like the Under 20 World Cup star defender Benjamin Fredrick and Under 17 whizkid Emmanuel Michael amongst others.

Upeh Waziri

Jeremy Seethal the head of the recruitment team of Right to Dream Africa , a multi-club group of academies has made a startling revelation about out of favour Super Eagles striker Olarewaju Kayode, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Seethal has a track record, having brought Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus, Kamaldeen Sulemana of Southampton and Brighton’s Simon Adingra to Right to Dream — which is now widely recognised as the pinnacle of African youth football.

While speaking on the difficulties of getting European teams to scout in Africa, Seethal went down memory lane to the 2011 U20 Africa Cup of Nations, when he was trying to make headway as a scout.

While there, he compiled a list of who he considered the top 10 players in the competition. Number one was Nigerian striker Olarenwaju Kayode, who was signed by City in 2017 and is now at Turkey’s Umraniyespor, on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine. Number two was Salah.

He went further to say despite that he recommended Salah to top clubs in Europe, but no feedback was gotten.

“He was on the right wing, running at high speed, shaping to shoot, then cutting in and caressing it in the corner. All the things you see him do now (for Liverpool),” Seethal tells The Athletic.

“He was special, but it’s difficult to distinguish what elite level looks like. The big clubs didn’t know about Salah, so I recommended him to Ajax, PSV and Manchester United. I either never heard back at all or I received an email saying, ‘Thanks, we’ll pass it on’, but there was no feedback ever given.”

Ade Emmanuel

Italian Serie A side Bologna have stepped up preparation for the start of the season as they bid to improve on their 9th place finish last season, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Among their plans for next season, they have also made decisions on the future of players on their books, particularly those who are back from loan spells away from the team for the major part of last season.

Among the players is former Nigeria U17 and U20 midfielder Kingsley Michael, who had his loan at Austrian Side SV Reid cut short for reason, which they said bothered on falling out of the plans of the coach who took over the team towards the end of last season.

He returned back to Bologna with eyes on the start of pre season to force his way into the first team plans of coach Thiago Motta, only to be informed that he isn’t part of the plans of the coach heading into next season.

The 23 year old according to reports will be allowed to leave on loan or permanently to a team of his choice with his contract at the club still on for another two years.

Michael was key to the Nigeria U17 team winning the 2015 U17 World Cup and made the step up to the U23s in 2019 playing four games at the World Cup. He made his senior international debut for Nigeria in 2021 in the 2-1 away win over Cape Verde in a 2022 World Cup qualifiers game, his only senior appearance till date.

Daniel Martins

The Nigerian contingent at Portuguese side Leixões has been increased to five with the club confirming the signing of 23 year old defender Emmanuel Iroanya, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Signed from third division Portuguese side SC Salgueiros, he was key in helping them finish as champions, a form that led to Leixões snapping him up on a two year deal per the official announcement on the website of the team.

” Signed for two seasons with Leixões.  Emmanuel is the 10th reinforcement of Leixões for the new season and he is already integrated into the working group guided by Pedro Ribeiro, the new coach of the team”, a statement on the website of the team reads.

Leixões have been the giant killers in the Portuguese League Cup this season knocking out CD Feirense and Portimonense respectively in the preliminary stage of the tournament, ahead of the start of the new season, where they will open their campaign on the 13th of Augustagainst Penafiel.

Iroanya joins the quartet of Morufdeen Moshood, Arome Emmanuel Idache, Oluwatimilehin Lawrence Adeniyi and Bright Godwin at the second division Portuguese side.

Daniel Martins

Italian Serie A champions Napoli have been rocked with the news about the injury suffered by the top striker of the team Victor Osimhen with around two weeks to the start of the new season in Italy, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen left the team’s training after complaining about pains in his knees and it was spectaculated that it wasn’t expected to be anything serious. The club reported that he need to take a rest not to aggravate the pain.

They were of the opinion that he will be back after a couple of days, but that isn’t the case anymore has he has been ruled out for a lengthy period of time with diagnosis showing that he suffered knee distortion.

Distortion of the knee joint is a considerable trauma even when the knee is primarily stable. The minimum days required to return from the injury is said to be around two weeks, but it could be around three months if he will be needing surgery.

While Napoli are now resigned to starting the season without their hitman, the senior national team of Nigeria will be anxiously waiting for updates on the time he will be away, with the World Cup qualifiers starting in November.

If he undergoes surgery, then he is likely to miss the opening game in the World Cup qualifiers.

Osas Mahawi

The future of coach of the women’s team of Nigeria Randy Waldrum is not yet certain, but a call has been made to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to not only extend his contract but draft him to the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Waldrum’s current deal with the NFF will run out this month and there have been no talks over an extension of his stay, despite leading the team to a round of 16 finish at the Women’s World Cup, where they were knocked out by England 4-1 on penalties.

A possible extension of his deal isn’t hinge on the result rather it’s majorly on his open criticism of the way the team was treated by the NFF in the build up to the tournament, he even accused the football house of trying to impose players on him.

Despite his pre tournament rant, the team went ahead to post impressive performance and Nigeria international midfielder John Ogu, who has 24 senior international caps for Nigeria says he should be drafted to the men’s senior national team to aid coach Jose Peseiro.

“Get this Man @CoachWaldrum to work with the Super Eagles @thenff …”, he posted on social media platform Twitter. He went further to back his point while responding to a comment on the post. “He sabi the job well .. I haven’t see Super falcons play like this in a long time . Tactically sound ..

The suggestion by the 35 year old, who now plays for second division Israeli side Kabilio Jaffa will likely be dependent on if Peseiro is handed a new deal, as he is presently out of contract but still remains the odds on favorite to keep his job.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

One transfer that will go down as the shock of the summer is the announcement by Italian side Reggiana that they have concluded a deal to sign 18 year old Nigerian midfielder Nuhu Shuaibu.

The Nigerian arrived the team in January joining the youth team and guided them to winning the Primavera 2 league. His contribution to the title win was rewarded with a spot in the first team for pre season training.

He picked up from where he left off with the youth team and after impressing in test games, the club announced that he will be part of their team on a one year deal following the completion of his registration.

Unlike last season, this season will see him play more games for the main as they push for a return to the Italian Serie A.  He is expected to provide depth in the middle of the park for the team.

Shuaibu came to Italy from Nigeria last year and joined Osimo Stazione from where he was scouted and recruited by Reggiana in January.

Daniel Martins

The debate over the future of Nigeria international Victor Osimhen at Italian Serie A side Napoli with talks over an extension yet to yield any fruit will drag on for a while, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

Osimhen who fired Napoli to their first league title in 33 years has two years to go on his deal at the club, a situation which has caught the attention of top teams in Europe. Notably Bayern Munich and Ligue 1 side PSG.

However, Napoli’s price tag of €200m has made it almost impossible for teams to get the Nigerian with Saudi Arabia side Al Ahli the latest team to fail with a bid for the Nigerian, but it appears a breakthrough has been found.

According to a well followed Saudi Arabia journalist on social media platform Twitter who goes with the handle @A_Abaoud, Osimhen rejected Napoli’s salary increase that takes his current earning to €6m.

As good as the offer seems, it is still no where near what he claimed Al Ahli are willing to pay the Nigerian, saying it’s in excess of €40m a season. An amount that has seen the 25 year old tell the Napoli that he wants to leave.

خاص
المهاجم النيجيري يضغط بقوة على إدارة نابولي للموافقة على عرض #الهلال ..
نابولي قدم طلب تعديل عقده الحالي مقابل 6 مليون يورو للموسم مع تمديده، وعرض الأزرق المتوقع يصل 40 مليون يورو للموسم ، وهو
ما جعل المهاجم النيجيري يطالب ناديه بقبول عرض الهلال .
ميتروفيتش خيار بديل pic.twitter.com/FDXm3Eh0A3

— عبدالرحمن أباعود (@A_Abaoud) August 4, 2023

He further went ahead to claim that he is pushing Napoli to accept the transfer fees of around €120m with Al Ahli setting a deadline for moving on from the Nigerian to another target in Fulham’s striker Aleksandra Mitrovic.

Sources close to the Serie A top scorer for last season have however refused to comment on the development, and even close associates of his representative say his situation will become clearer in the coming days.

Daniel Martins

As the start of the new Ligue 1 season in France draws near, teams have been improving on their squad for a better performance and FC Nantes are not left out.

Fresh from narrowly escaping relegation last season, the former French Cup champions have need to strengthen in several areas and defence is one of the key places where they need reinforcement.

As they struggle to tie Nigeria international forward Moses Simon to a new deal, they have now reached agreement with another Nigerian to bring the number of Nigerians at the club to two.

According to L’equipe Nantes and Boavista have found an agreement for 26 year old Nigeria international Chidozie Awaziem to join the club for a second spell but this time around on a permanent deal for a fee in the region of €4m. He will sign a four year deal.

Awaziem spent the 2017/2018 season at the club on loan from FC Porto, he left Porto permanently for Boavista two seasons ago. Last season he was on loan at Croatian side Hajduk Split.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman