Super Eagles World Cup fund to gulp N2.084b

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has told the House of Representative Committee on Sports that it would need a total sum of N2.84 billion to prosecute the Brazil 2014 World Cup, warning that the N1.2 billion from the federal government could only take the team to the round of 16 of the tournament.

Speaking while appearing before the House Sports Committee during the defence of the 2014 budget proposal at the National Assembly on Monday, the General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu, who stood in for the president, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, emphasised that the federation have a deficient budget of N800 million for the World Cup.



“Before I give the budget summary for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, I want to note that it is divided into two parts. One is the preparation while the second is the participation in the World Cup proper. Let me however note that the preparation for the tournament has commenced in earnest with the international friendly against Mexico.

“The budget we have for the World Cup is N2.084 billion and from all indication, we are envisaging that the federal Government would likely give us N1.24 billion but there will be a World Cup shortfall of N829 million.

“From our calculations, the special intervention fund of N1.2 billion from the federal government can only take us to the round of 16 stage in this tournament in terms of bonuses, air tickets to the players and officials, Extacodes, preparations, logistics and the rest of it.

“What it means therefore is that we have to budget deficit for the tournament and that is why we are appealing to the House of Representative Committee on Sports to help look into the deficit and ensure that the strategy to go beyond the stage other African teams have set at the World Cup, that is the quarter-finals stage.

“If we get the budget we have put together, Nigeria will be able to make not only ourselves proud but also the African continent. Yes, there are some funds due to Nigeria for participation in the tournament and I need to say that part of that money has come to us and we are using them very well to prepare them for the World Cup.

“We do envisage that when the tournament takes off, the minimum money the NFF will generate will be about $8 million even though we might eventually get delivery of about $7 million after deductions of withholding taxes among others.

“This is the minimum amount for participation and it is always higher when a team goes beyond the preliminary stage. The football federation got $6.4 million instead of $8 million during the 2010 World Cup,” Barrister Amadu noted.