Super Eagles players who were scheduled to arrive Sao Paolo at 9pm local time last night (3am Wednesday in Nigeria), Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, yesterday insisted that the players are satisfied with the proposal of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over bonuses for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.
Yobo and Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel had earlier met with the top NFF members to demand an appearance fee for the 2014 World Cup.
This is outside the match bonus, which starts at $10,000-a-man for a first round match win, announced for the players for Brazil 2014.
Yobo said the meeting to demand an appearance fee for the players was “peaceful and normal as players need to demand for their rights.
“That’s very true. I haven’t been around for a while. When I came, I heard about several issues that were going on.
“I have to make sure my players are happy. I am the captain of the national team and if the players are not happy, there is no way I can be happy,” he said.
The Nigeria captain said the meeting was important to ensure that the Super Eagles put up a creditable outing at the World Cup finals in Brazil.
Yobo, however, expressed unhappiness that the development was reported by the media.
“This was a very peaceful and quiet meeting. I am very disappointed that it came out in the media because it was very peaceful and everybody was very happy about it,” he said.
“You can’t deprive players from asking for their rights. This is normal. We play for our country and there are certain things that the players are entitled to.
“As the captain of this team, I am privileged and proud and honoured to represent my country.
“The players are all happy and they know the task ahead. Like I said, there was a meeting and the meeting will still continue.
“There’s no problem. We just need to agree on what we want to do. We are ready to play for Nigeria and we don’t represent our country because of money,” he said.
Nigeria will already earn more than $9 million for qualification and participation in the first round of the 2014 World Cup and they will get more if they reach the knockout stages of the competition.
For the World Cup warm-ups against Scotland, Greece and USA, each player received an appearance fee of $3,000.
Fellow World Cup finalists Ghana are on an appearance fee of $75,000-a-man for the 23 players who made the final cut to Brazil 2014.
It would be recalled that a row over such a fee derailed the Super Eagles at the 1998 World Cup in France as players and officials were locked in lengthy meetings to resolve the impasse.
Most recently, another pay row almost caused the country to miss out on the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, before the presidency intervened to avoid an international embarrassment.
This has led to the introduction of a code of conduct for the Eagles.
The squad arrived Sao Paulo, Brazil
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