Nigerian President Bola Tinubu hailed the ladies’s nationwide soccer staff for his or her victory on the 2024 Girls’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) at a grand celebratory reception the place he promised them presents and money rewards.
Internet hosting them at Aso Rock, the presidential residence, on Monday, Tinubu introduced every participant would get a $100,000 (£75,000) plus a three-bedroom condo.
The 24-woman squad cheered once they heard the information, however there have been criticism previously that prizes promised by Nigerian governments haven’t materialised.
Nigeria’s Tremendous Falcons – because the staff is thought – defeated hosts Morocco 3-2 on Saturday in a shocking second-half comeback, clinching their tenth Wafcon title.
Tinubu stated the victory was a “triumph of braveness, dedication and consistency” including that in some unspecified time in the future “did not need to watch the match” due to the stress.
“Immediately, you returned residence as champions of Africa,” he stated. “We couldn’t be prouder.”
On their arrival on the primary airport within the capital, Abuja, the staff had been welcomed by conventional dancers, drummers, journalists and authorities officers. They had been then escorted to the presidential residence in a convoy.
Tinubu conferred nationwide honours, the Officer of the Order of the Niger, to all of the gamers and workers, saying this was “on behalf of a grateful nation”.
Captain Rasheedat Ajibade stated that her staff’s victory was for “each younger lady in our villages, cities and cities who dares to dream”.
She additionally outlined her imaginative and prescient for the Tremendous Falcons to grow to be one of the best staff on the planet however stated this may solely occur with continued help from the soccer federation and authorities.
The Tremendous Falcons have gained 10 of the 13 editions of Wafcon because it started in1998. The president described the newest win as a “milestone within the historical past of sport”.
Whereas the gamers celebrated the additional presents from the president, previously, each the lads’s and girls’s nationwide soccer groups in Nigeria have had repeated points with the authorities over delayed fee of bonuses and salaries.
The federal government has solely simply honoured its three-decade promise of recent houses for the victorious males’s staff, the Tremendous Eagles, which gained the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Tremendous Falcons have a number of occasions been concerned in sit-in protests throughout main tournaments over pay points, together with after their 2023 Girls’s World Cup run.
There has additionally been considerations over pay disparities, and lately, followers have referred to as for them to be paid the identical because the Supee Eagles.
Forward of their ultimate match on Saturday, Tinubu reportedly accepted gamers’ match allowances and bonuses, together with backdated funds, including that this may the usual follow sooner or later.
