I’ve got right to intervene in bonus row –Minister

[Mirror]

...Tasks Adeniyi panel

The Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has defended his decision to intervene in the bonus row between the Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Association (NFF) on the eve of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup played in Brazil.

Inaugurating a seven- man panel yesterday, in Abuja, to review the immediate and remote causes of the Eagles' stand-off after a World Cup qualifier in Namibia last month, Abdullahi, who is also chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) said his ministry has a responsibility to stop recurrence of disagreements between athletes and sports authorities.

According to the Minister, the unfortunate incident that happened after the game in Namibia which was a build up match towards the Confederation Cup in Brazil has helped to bring to the fore many issues.

He noted that bonus rows between managers of the nation's football and teams that represent the country at international events had been an issue for long and that many people kept asking why the issue kept happening despite several efforts to stop re-occurrence.

The Minister said, "At this point, we felt that we have responsibility to take a deeper look at the circumstances that surrounded that immediate event and of course the larger issue of managing our athletes regarding their welfare benefits and their entitlements and the way they are expected to behave why on national duty.

"That is why we are inaugurating this panel today and we believed that with the calibre of people in the panel, we are capable of finding solution to the problem."

He added, "The panel is expected to investigate into the match bonus row and know the remote causes of the crisis that h a p – pened in Namibia and make a proper recommendation. The panel will also develop a code of conduct for players while on national assignment.

"Thirdly, the panel will also make other recommendations that would be necessary toward finding a lasting solution to the problem we have identified within the period of two weeks."

In his response, chairman of the panel, Adeniyi, thanked the Minister for the confidence reposed in them while promising that the panel would dig deep into the matter and give recommendations that would find a lasting solution to the problem and to develop Nigeria's football.

Other members of the panel are Ms Aisha Falode, Mr. Akin Osuntoku, Mr. Onochie Anibeze, Garba Lawal and Abudulkadir Nasir, while Mallam Shehu Dikko will serve as secretary.

Meanwhile, a member of the panel, Oshuntokun, has said that the committee would not interfere with the Nigeria Football Federation's job. Oshuntokun, who was a former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the panel will only abide by its terms of reference.

National Mirror

[Folami David]

Well if this minister has got right to do this then let him go ahead once and for all. Let's see how it'll all pan out.....