Nigerian Clubs Owe Players, Coaches N350m

There are indications that all is not well in the Nigerian football league as the country  celebrates her 50th independence anniversary.

It has emerged that 26 professional clubs in the Nigerian league, including the  top-flight, are hugely indebted to players and coaches to the tune of N350 million.

A player’s agent licensed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Yusuf, made  this staggering discovery to SuperSport.com.

Yusuf, who manages close to 70 per cent of the players in the Premier League and the  lower division, revealed that he is in possession of documents that verify that 26 clubs  are indebted to players and coaches in the country’s league to the tune of more than  N350m.

“I have documents to back my claims of no less than 26 clubs owing players in the league  more than N350m.

These are verified debts by the players’ status and arbitration committee of the NFF.

All of the clubs summoned to that hearing were there and know this fact. So, we must know  that the players are the most important in the scheme of the league because without them,  others cannot exist in the first place,” Yusuf pointed out.

The player’s agent, however, refused to name the clubs but SuperSport.com got wind of  documents of three clubs,  Akwa United, Dolphin Football Club and Warri Wolves, on the  issue.

The three clubs, according to the document, owe players and coaches a combined sum of  close to N100m (about $660,000).

But Yusuf added that unofficially the debt of clubs in the Premier League and the Nigeria  National League (NNL) also known as the National Division I League should be in the  region of N5billion.  He said this cannot be ascertained since so many players in the  league do not have written contracts