Account for $21m FIFA money, Jalla charges NFF

The Chairman, Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, Harrison Jalla, has charged the Nigeria Football Federation to account for the FIFA funds the body received from 2014 to 2024.

Jalla, in a statement on Thursday, said the world football body handed the NFF a total of N21.1m in grants in 10 years, alleging that the money was misappropriated.

He stated, “What happened to these funds from FIFA and CAF from 2014-2024: $8.6m 2014 World Cup grant, $10m 2018 World Cup grant and FIFA Assisted Programme grant 2015: $2.5m?

“All these funds disappeared into thin air and translated into huge debts, outstanding hotel bills and outstanding match bonuses to Super Eagles players, the Falcons, and all strata of the national teams and coaches.

“Without diligently probing how the NFF found itself in this financial mess, the Honourable Minister of Sports, Senator John Enoh, convinced President Tinubu to release an intervention fund of N12bn, which the President graciously approved. Even the N12bn, as we speak, is alleged to have been misappropriated, with only two in the outstanding match bonuses and allowances paid so far.”

Jalla lamented that despite receiving other grants from the world body the NFF had no project to show for them.

“By January 2026, NFF would have received $18m from three cycles of the FIFA Forward programme with no tangible project on the ground, plus the steady FIFA annual grants to all its 211 members and CAF grants to all its 54 members. The recent CAF grant for the 2023 AFCON is estimated to be about $7m.

“Let’s leave out the billions of naira from corporate sponsorship and appropriation by the National Assembly through the federation account between 2014 to 2024.”

The retired footballer also described the NFF’s quest for a foreign coach for the Eagles as “a disgraceful expedition.”

“Ten years of long-term planning should be more than sufficient to develop a robust technical department to upgrade Nigerian coaches for national team assignments. With the right people in charge of football in Nigeria—a country that was once ranked fifth best in the world—Nigeria should by now be the hub and centre for the training and development of African countries, not Europe or South America.

“The technical departments of top football federations are commercially viable sub-sectors because they generate revenue. A fraction of the grants from FIFA and CAF from 2014 to 2024 is more than sufficient to establish a robust and commercially viable technical department that would have upgraded a good number of Indigenous coaches for our national teams. It’s a big shame for a country like Nigeria to be talking of hiring a foreign coach in 2024.”