NFF to withdraw from age-grade tourneys

After a horrendous experience at the hands of the Super Falcons, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials  are allegedly unanimous in their views that there is a need to cut down on the number of tournaments the country will participate in from next yearThe  Falcons launched a sit-in protest in their Abuja hotel two days after clinching their eighth African Women’s Cup of Nations title with a 1-0 win over hosts Cameroon in Yaounde on December 3 after the NFF failed to pay them their win bonuses and allowances.The team, who seized the trophy they won in the Central African country, were paid their entitlements following the intervention of the Presidency and the National Assembly.The  national football body had hinted that it  would review its programme  with regard to  participation  in championships  next year due to  inadequate allocation to the federation by the sports ministry. But reports on Thursday said the majority of the members are backing the idea.Our correspondent learnt the Golden Eaglets might be barred from taking part in the qualifiers for the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup.It was learnt the NFF  also had plans to withdraw the Flamingoes from the 2018 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup and the Falconets from the 2018 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup.Sources claim the NFF president Amaju Pinnick is not happy about the negative comments about the federation in the media and has decided to take action by ensuring that the country participates in the competitions the body can fund.According to inside sources, Pinnick was able to convince other members of the federation to support the move if the financial position of the body fails to improve next year.Spokesman for the NFF Ademola Olajire, who confirmed the development, however said the federation would only review its international  programmes if it continues to grapple with the problem of raising enough money for tournaments next year.“The president mentioned it in an interview that it is true that we have to review the number of competitions we participate in,” Olajire said.“The truth is that how many countries participate in as many championships as we do?“He (Pinnick) said, for instance, the Under-17 boys had nothing to prove again after winning the tournament five times.“For the Under-17 boys and girls, he feels if things done improve quickly, we have to look the other way in the categories, but it’s not automatic that we withdraw.”