Nigeria delay bonus reform

Nigeria delay bonus reform

Nigeria delay bonus reform

The release of the new code of conduct for Nigerian players has been delayed to avoid causing distractions during the ongoing World Cup qualification process.

The issue of bonus payments threatened to derail the Super Eagles' participation in the Confederations Cup in June as the players were on the verge of boycotting the tournament after the Nigeria Football Federation reduced the bonuses on offer.

A code of conduct has been drafted with the intention of preventing a repeat of that fiasco, but with Stephen Keshi's side still involved in the qualifying process, Nigeria's sports minister Bolaji Abdullahi has delayed the release to let the team focus on the task at hand.

Abdullahi explained that the report will be introduced once the national team have completed their final two-legged qualifying encounter against Ethiopia in November.

"The panel's report is very strategic and as soon as we are done with the World Cup qualifying matches, we will implement the report fully," he said.

"We don't want to introduce the report now so that it does not distract us from the work we have at hand now.

"We will continue to manage it. It is after the World Cup qualifiers that we plan to put in place the structures that can provide the final solution to it."