Head Coach of the U20 Women National Team, Chris Danjuma, has described as utter falsehood and a cluster of esoteric jargons, a story in one online publication on Wednesday that an official of his team claimed players and officials were not paid their entitlements before and during the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals in France.
“I see this as a silly, mischievous story. I have spoken to my assistants and backroom staff and they all denied talking to the reporter. We were paid our entitlements for the camping in Austria and at the FIFA World Cup, and no money was lost as claimed in the story.
“From the very first day I saw the reporter in our camp prior to our departure to the final training camp in Austria, I observed he was a very funny figure just looking for negative stuff to report. It is unfortunate that some persons commit their lives to trying to cause mischief and trouble wherever they see there is peace.”
Danjuma said the claim by the reporter that the team was ‘suffering’ before the Sports Minister arrived and gave them personal cash was incorrect.
“We had been paid our entitlements before the Sports Minister came. I am aghast at what the reporter was out to achieve. Was the reporter in Austria with the team to ascertain we were ‘suffering?’
“No member of the Falconets’ technical crew or the playing body has any negative thing to say about the NFF. They did their very best for us and supported the team at each point during the qualifying series, the training camp and the FIFA World Cup.”
On her part, Team Administrator Modupe Shabi was in shock about the claim that Head of Women’s Football, Ruth David misplaced the sum of Euro10,000.
“That is fallacy. Miss David handed every money that was meant for the team to me and I did the payment to the players and officials. She did not pay anyone directly and certainly did not misplace any Euro10,000. The entire story is the imagination of the reporter or something he saw in his dream.”
