The Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the coaches who took athletes to the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius and World Juniors in Cali, Colombia have reached a deadlock in negotiations as to when they would be paid their allowances. The AFN president and the coaches held talks during the National Sports Festival in Asaba, Delta State, they could not get a date when they would receive their allowances. “It’s been six months now we are waiting for the $600 for each coach,” said one of the coaches “The president of the AFN cannot even give us a definite date and this is very unpalatable to us, especially when the athletes and others have been paid. “Coaches from other countries who were also in those competitions have all collected their allowances. It is only us, despite the efforts we made to make the athletes do well in those competitions.”
The coaches had planned to stage a demonstration during the festival, but shelved the plan. Commenting on the issue, AFN technical director Samuel Onikeku urged the coaches to be patient , because the federation is still looking for funds to settle the outstanding allowance. “We held a meeting with coaches in Asaba and we were very clear on why they hadn’t been paid . “They need to have a little bit of patience, because it is usually a long process. Besides, we had offered to pay the coaches some of the money owed them, but they insisted on collecting their money whole. “So they have to bear with the federation for now,” said Onikeku.
