Okolo: Falcons Were Fed Gari At AWC 2004 - Sports - Nairaland
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| Okolo: Falcons Were Fed Gari At AWC 2004 by BlackAlbino6(m): 6:38pm On Nov 22, 2015 |
[b][size=14pt] Nigeria Women Football Former Falcon Vera Okolo opens up on how team was abandoned by NFF at 2004 AWC [/size]  The former Super Falcons star opens up on the team’s ordeal while on national duty at the African Women’s Championship in 2004 Former Nigeria women star, Vera Okolo has spilt the beans about the dismal treatment handed out to the Super Falcons at the 2004 African Women’s Championship in South Africa. The former Delta Queens player whose lone strike secured an Olympic ticket for the Super Falcons at the expense of Bayana Bayana spoke about her displeasure at the welfare of the players while on duty for their country. “I cannot imagine a team representing a country as popular and blessed as Nigeria, to go for a tournament like that and be treated shabbily. If I open up on the terrible things that happened in South Africa, you will pity the players and heap praises on us,” Okolo told the Vanguard. “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 weeks. In fact, I played two matches with groin injury, all in the name of wanting to win for Nigeria.” The former player who is now attending the Nigeria Institute of Sports also detailed how the ladies were owed their due pay. “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. “It was strange but we told them that it was not really the jersey that plays the game but the players. On match days we avoided exchanging jerseys. It became a crime to do so. “We told them that we were not going back to Nigeria without the cup. And when the bonuses were not being paid after wining our matches, they became deeply worried and we rose to tell them not to allow that to weigh them down.” The former African Women Footballer of the Year nominee lamented how the Nigerian Football Federation abandoned the team in terms of match bonuses and feeding. She explicated on how the team overcame these challenges with help of Nigerians in South Africa. “Even in Algiers 2007, it happened. Before most of our matches, we drank garri. But we felt good even with it. After the tournament in South Africa, Kikelomo Ajayi who was our captain was mandated by us to go and meet the officials to pay us the bonuses but we were shocked when she returned to tell us that they said we should go back to Nigeria to collect the money. “That was when we said no, that if we got to Nigeria, they would not pay. Experiences have shown that our officials don’t stand by their words, so we refused to go back home until the money was paid. “Even when the embassy officials said that we were on our own and they would only provide for our breakfast, we were not moved. It was at that time that Nigerians in South Africa knew of our plight and said that as long as they were alive that we would not lack anything good in South Africa. “They were bringing us food; in fact, we had so much that we were even giving out to visitors and friends. We had more than we had during the tournament. They said we should have told them all this while but we were not supposed to wash our dirty linens outside. But it just got to that extent that we could not hide it any more. “There was a time that the former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili had to intervene. He called (Peterside) Idah, when he heard of our travails, to feed the players and send the bill to him. “It was like that until the money was now given to us and immediately, they said we should pack to go to Nigeria. [/b] Next........ |
| Re: Okolo: Falcons Were Fed Gari At AWC 2004 by BlackAlbino6(m): 6:40pm On Nov 22, 2015 |
[b][size=14pt] PART 'II' Okolo: Falcons Were Fed Gari At AWC 2004 [/size] “Then President, Olusegun Obasanjo gave us N1m each, after hearing what happened.” She spoke about the present Super Falcons, stating her disappointment with the team’s inability to secure an Olympic ticket for Rio 2016 and outlined the failure of the Falcons to progress to the knockout stage at the FIFA Women’s World Cup as lack of inexperience in the side. “It baffles me a lot. Before I joined the team, we were a winning team and we won during my time. I thank God for Coach Ismaila Mabo for giving me the opportunity to play for Nigeria. “Even when I was injured, he told the doctor to work on me and I was injected and played the final match of Algiers 2007, where I scored the winning goal with that same leg that was hurting. “I don’t know who to blame for what is going on now. I saw good players at the World Cup in Canada. I was disappointed that a coach will play 90 minutes without substitutions. “He may have his reasons but I don’t think there are any reasons because he had 22 players to use but he was okay to play only 11. Why were the rest on the bench? He should have introduced new players. Okolo, who grabbed the winner for Nigeria at the All African Games final in Algiers 2007, just finished a one year advanced coaching programme at the National Institute of Sports with the ambition of coaching her former club, Delta Queens. m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/12072/nigeria-women/2015/11/22/17572052/former-falcon-vera-okolo-opens-up-on-how-team-was-abandoned [/b] |
| Re: Okolo: Falcons Were Fed Gari At AWC 2004 by Eddygourdo(m): 6:52pm On Nov 22, 2015 |
Please tell them, shame the inefficiency of our management of this country and hopefully we might change our outlook |
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