The implementation of the ‘code of conduct’ for Super Eagles players on national duty will be delayed to avoid bad timing, the Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi has said.
The code of conduct drafted by a six-man panel in August and presented to the minister contains findings, following the much talked-about bonus row which nearly led to the national team almost boycotting June’s Confederations Cup in Brazil.
Minister, Abdullahi, intimated that the panel’s recommendations will be implemented after the World Cup qualifying matches have been concluded, so as to avoid “distracting” the players.
“The panel’s report is very strategic and as soon as we are done with the World Cup qualifying matches, we will implement the report fully,” he said.
“We don’t want to introduce the report now so that it does not distract us from the work we have at hand now.
“We will continue to manage it. It is after the World Cup qualifiers that we plan to put in place the structures that can provide the final solution to it.”
The NFF have also said they will not back down on their decision to slash players’ wages on national duty.
Super Eagles players had initially refused to board a scheduled flight to Rio de Janeiro after a 2014 World Cup qualifiers 1-1 draw against Namibia in Windhoek, sitting non-contentment with the match bonus offered by the NFF at that time.
It took the intervention of the Sports Minister, who sourced for extra fund for the players, for Nigeria to have escaped such national disgrace.
