The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has debunked its alleged indebtedness to late former Super Eagles captain and coach, Christian Chukwu, who died on Saturday, aged 74 years. It challenged anyone with proof of such to Chukwu or any other coach to produce it for immediate settlement.
According to a report being peddled on social media, the NFF allegedly owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000.
But in a swift reaction, the General Secretary of the NFF, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, faulted the report, insisting that the body had no such record in its files.
While stating that “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu”, Dr. Sanusi explained that “During the first term of the Board headed by Mr. Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
He therefore challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach who had worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
According to Dr. Sanusi, “As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately”.