A former Super Falcons player, Vera Okolo has made shocking revelations about how the NFF neglected the welfare of the players during Women's championship in South Africa.
Vera Okolo (left) playing for Nigeria
The former Super Falcons star, Vera Okolo has revealed how the female players were treated at the 2004 African Women’s Championship in South Africa.
Okolo who is a former Delta Queens player, and whose lone strike secured an Olympic ticket for the Super Falcons at the expense of Bayana Bayana, revealed how she played through pain in her groin to help Nigeria win.
She made the revelation in an interview with Vanguard recently. She revealed players had to avoid exchanging jerseys after matches because they were provided with only two white kits and one green kit during tournaments.
"We played that tournament with two pairs of white jerseys and one pair of green jerseys. Those were what we played with for over two-week long tournament with. And a lot of things happened in that tournament that shocked me. I was part of it and was very much involved in the events that unfolded to our bewilderment. I played all the matches. In fact, I played two matches with groin injury, all in the name of wanting to win for Nigeria.
"Normally, when you go for such tournaments, as long as you win, you get your match bonus after a game. But it was a different ball game in South Africa. After winning our first match, we got to the hotel, expecting our bonus. It started from the kits. After giving us three jerseys, we asked why, they said they were bringing kits from Nigeria, that we should make do with what we have. We said, no problem as we were focused on retaining the cup.
"For some of us, who just came back from the Olympics, the thing did not really affect us much as we had spare kits to wear. But the new players were being demoralised with the treatment but we told them to cheer up that it was not normal and they should stay focused.
"Even the food we ate, did not come regularly. Cameroon were fed sumptuous meals daily by their Embassy officials. It was not like that for us. We drank garri before playing two matches for Nigeria in South Africa. We couldn’t feed well. "
The former striker said Nigerians in South Africa came to the players’ rescue in South Africa when it became known that they were being maltreated and not paid match bonuses.
"It was even after the tournament that many Nigerians in South Africa heard what was happening to us. They were shocked and started bringing food to us. We had food then than during the tournament. Nigeria could not take care of us. They could not even feed us but good Samaritans did."
However, she thanked the former president Olusegun Obasanjo for coming to the team’s rescue by giving them N1m each for their efforts in South Africa.
