Nigeria hit jackpot as players earn $130,000 as World Cup appearance fee

Nigeria players like goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama received $130,000 each as appearance fee for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

This is $30,000 above what the Black Stars received at the World Cup as the Ghanaian players got $100,000.

Players of both countries boycotted their training sessions at the World Cup before the money was paid.

“It was not a flat rate, but some of the players like Enyeama, who were involved in both the qualifiers as well as the World Cup in Brazil got as much as $130,000,” said one official.

This is outside the match bonus and daily allowances they were paid.

AfricanFootball.com also specially gathered that players who qualified Nigeria to a fifth World Cup also got a share of the FIFA largesse, several top team officials disclosed.

Team officials were also not left out of the largesse with the least getting about $25,000.

But it was further learnt that it was not all plain sailing as there were disagreements particularly as regards whether those who qualified the team for Brazil 2014 should also be part of the appearance fee.

“So, even some players like John Utaka and Raheem Lawal, who played just a couple of qualifiers, will also get something.”