Players claimed some were still owed bonus payments going back as far as 2019
Nigeria defender William Troost-Ekong says the squad deliberately chose this week to make a stand after players refused to train in the build-up to their 4-1 World Cup play-off win against Gabon.
The squad skipped Tuesday’s session due to a dispute with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over unpaid wages. The players claim some are still owed bonus payments going back as far as 2019.
They resumed their normal activities only after talks on Wednesday afternoon, with Troost-Ekong posting on X that the issue was “resolved” and the players were “focussed” on the game.
The standoff delayed preparations for a match Nigeria had to win to remain in contention for next year’s World Cup. Despite the disruption the team managed a late victory over Gabon on Thursday night, Victor Osimhen scoring twice in extra-time to seal a victory, after proceedings had ended 1-1 in normal time.
Troost-Ekong said the players felt compelled to take action.
“I feel like we have really united as a team,” said the centre-back. “I have been in difficult situations with this team before and we had to make a stand for ourselves, for this team and also send a message to the whole of Nigeria and the next generation of players to stand for what is right.”
He stressed that the dispute was about respecting agreements rather than the squad making any extraordinary demands.
“We weren’t asking for anything extra,” said Troost-Ekong. “I think there was a misconception about this special bonus thing. But we just wanted to be respected because we have a team that is like a brotherhood.”
As to why they chose to act a day before an important World Cup play-off, Troost-Ekong said: “Because this is the moment when the whole world is watching us. Sometimes you have to be clever about choosing your moment. We all decided as a team it was the right thing to do and it worked out well.”
