THE Super Eagles of Nigeria are expected to embark on their trip from Fez to Marrakesh for their Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter-final encounter against Algeria.
The three-time African champions had threatened to refuse to travel and to boycott Saturday’s fixture over the failure to pay their win bonuses for their four matches in Morocco.
The Super Eagles have won all of their four matches so far at this AFCON, beating Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Mozambique, but they are yet to receive any bonuses.
The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Shehu Dikko had to intervene to resolve the latest pay dispute between the Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in order to keep the hopes of a fourth AFCON title alive.
Dikko said he spoke with the team and assured them that everything about the funding of the Super Eagles for this AFCON was approved by President Bola Tinubu in November.
He added that the NSC, NFF and key members of the Super Eagles were on the same page.
“The president approved since November 14th the funding and the budget that we need to execute the AFCON,” Dikko told reporters in Morocco.
“The president has done his own, and we told the players that the president has paid for their AFCON and that has been done.
“You know, approving the money is different, and processing the money is different, but at least they know that the money has been approved, and we are processing the funding to get the money.
“So, we had to motivate the players because prior to start of the tournament, both myself, the NFF president, and officials related to the Super Eagles – the captain and co-captain and some other senior players, where we negotiated and agreed on their financial entitlement for the tournament.
“The players know clearly what they are playing for and they know clearly their bonuses until we get to the final and it has been agreed by the players and they know.
“The only thing that they asked to be paid in cash was the daily allowances, and it has been sorted out and available. They know their bonuses for the match is been processed and approved, and it will come.
“The Ministry of Finance and CBN are also working to make sure everything comes on time. At least the boys know that everything is in place.”
This is the second time in two months the Super Eagles would be embroiled in a pay dispute during an important competition.
They boycotted training to demand a backlog of owed allowances before the kick-off of the World Cup play-offs in November.
The issue was resolved and they went to beat Gabon in the semi-finals before losing the final to the Democratic Republic of Congo, ending their 2026 World Cup dreams.