Over 250 members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC) will miss the match between Nigeria and France in Brasilia today having left for Nigeria yesterday.Only 100 members of the club left Sao Paulo to Brasilia yesterday. The distance is about 16 hours by road. Their exit from watching the World Cup was as a result of paucity of funds.Members of the Supporters Club have threatened to drag NFSC leadership to court for mismanagement of fund accrued to the body for the tournament. The return ticket of most supporters were slated for June 29 while others will depart on July 1.They lamented that the leadership of NFSC did not notify them of their departure until Saturday when their flight was billed for 12:40a.m. on Sunday. While lamenting the poor arrangement by the leadership of the club, a member who gave her name as Uju said: “We have enough funds, most of us paid N300,000.
I paid N300,000 as money charged, I spent N80,000 as visa fee but I was left in Nigeria. I had to spend another N350,000 on my way to get to Brazil. Yet millions of naira were donated and given to us by President Goodluck Jonathan, our major sponsors, Globacom, Guinness and even Dangote.
“What happened to all the money we have? What happened to the funds raised before the World Cup? Although, Brazil is expensive but the club budgeted and had made all the necessary arrangements.
They will explain to us when we get to Nigeria.” Another member of the club simply identified as Mr. Obas said: “I paid N300,000 but since I got here (Brazil), I have been feeding myself. All the road trips to Curitiba, Cuiaba, Porto Alegre and back to Sao Paolo, I have been spending money from my own pocket.
Where then are the monies donated to us? “How could the leaders arrange that we are leaving after the group stage? Were they pessimistic about the Super Eagles’ performance?
Did they anticipate that Nigeria will leave the competition after the group stage? How can they make flight arrangement and say we are returning on June 29 and July 1st when Nigeria is still in the competition?”
Another member, Ms Titilayo, said: “Even though they had made such arrangements, now that the Super Eagles are in the round of 16, the leaders are supposed to reschedule our flights by extending it.
That is what we usually do in other competitions. They must explain to us what they did with all the monies we paid and the funds donated to us. “I can tell you that there is foul play among the executive.
When we get home, the President- General and the national chairman must explain to us what they did with our money. They are not feeding us, it is only cheap accommodation and transportation to the stadium that they have used money for. So, what happened to the remaining money?”
A member from the Lagos chapter of the Club, who craved anonymity, lamented that the recent development was as a result of internal crisis in the Supporters’ Club. He said a faction is hoarding donated funds given to members by some multinational organisations.
Justifying the decision to send the supporters home, President General of the Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, lamented the level at which the prices of goods and services have sky-rocketed in Brazil.
Ladipo said: “Some members have to go for some of us to stay to support the Super Eagles. “Everybody cannot go to Brasilia. The cost of transportation here in Brazil is too much. Some members had their return flight schedule for June 29, others July 1st.
We would have extended their return but we are spending more than we have and we may get stranded in Brazil. We have rescheduled the flight tickets of some members,” he added
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