Only nine days before the ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, co-hosted by two Oceania countries, Australia and New Zealand, the discussions in most qualified nations and their federations ahead of the tournament have been based on the on-field preparedness for the global event.

However, in Nigeria, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) publicly traded words with the women’s national team (Super Falcons) head coach Randy Waldrum which started when the American accused the NFF of hampering the team’s preparations for the World Cup.

During a podcast session on ‘On the Whistle’, the 66-year-old gaffer challenged the NFF to give an account of the $960,000 given to Nigeria by FIFA to prepare for the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand. He also stated the NFF owes him seven months’ salary.

“My issues with the federation are my issues, but I’m not going to be quiet anymore,” Waldrum stated. “I have a real close contact in the US that is very connected and on some of the boards at FIFA. “This person told me that in October 2022, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World Cup. Where is that money? If Nigeria got it in October, why didn’t we have a camp in November?”

His findings from his FIFA connection “is that if countries don’t have the money to buy the business class tickets for everybody, FIFA would front that money and buy those tickets and then just deduct it from the money you get” from FIFA after the World Cup.

Waldrum added, “So, there’s no excuse of saying, ‘We didn’t have money to buy tickets, so we couldn’t have camp’, but these are the kinds of things that the people in Nigeria don’t question. Where does $960,000 go? Why aren’t we prepared properly?”

He stressed that since he became coach of the Falcons, the federation has never met him even once to discuss things he needed for the team’s success; this was his response to talks about him not looking at players plying their trades in the Nigerian local leagues.

It is a love lost between the two parties, and most football fans expect Mr Waldrum to be shown the way out after the World Cup. In a brutal response by the federation through its media director, Ademola Olajire called the American a loudmouth and Super Falcons’ “worst coach ever.”

“Incompetent loudmouth (Waldrum) found his voice now since he’s about to achieve his only ambition of leading a team at the World Cup,” Olajire said. “Everyone knows FIFA pays preparation money for every team going to the Women’s World Cup.”

He added, “He claims he’s been at the job because of the players. Bollocks. His entire objective has always been to add leading a team to the World Cup to his CV. Worst coach to have handled the Super Falcons by a country mile.”

Responding to NFF’s replies, Waldrum stated, “I saw the NFF response to my previous comments on the other podcast, and it just seemed like a really childish response. Otherwise, I would have walked away from this job a long time ago.”

Unlike the Super Falcons, who last played a World Cup preparatory match in April, other African representatives for the tournament have played multiple friendly matches between June and July ahead of the quadrennial tournament.

Debutants Zambia have played three matches between June and the first week of July, including the surprising 3-2 win over Germany, the second best-ranked women’s national team in the world and one of the favourites to win the World Cup heading to Australia and New Zealand.

Morocco played two preparatory matches in July alone, and a third one against Jamaica on July 16 and South Africa’s Bayana Bayana played one against Botswana, but the members of the first team failed to show up for the match due to the bad condition of the pitch.

However, the first team will play a proper friendly match against Costa Rica on July 15, in what would be their final game when the World Cup kicks off in Oceania.

Immediately the NFF-Waldrum went down in the media, another tension brewed up when Punch Newspaper reported that an unnamed member of the Super Falcons’ squad had told the media outlet that the team could boycott their opening game against Canada over a match bonuses dispute.

They said the NFF had allegedly told the players that they had no intention of paying them match bonuses, citing that the guaranteed $30,000 for each player participating in the World Cup should be enough for the squad players.

Meanwhile, the team’s captain Onome Ebi came out to debunk the boycott’s news saying. 

“I have no idea where that (boycott) is coming from. We (the players) never had any such conversations as regards that; we are good with training and ready for the World Cup,” Ebi told thenff.com.

The issue of match bonuses is a regular song in various levels of the national team set up pre and post-national team matches and tournaments. Recently, former Nigeria international and Everton forward Victor Anichebe said the NFF still owes players from the 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medal-winning squad match bonuses.

“2008 Beijing Olympics, we had no leisure kit, one training kit we had to wash. Bonus went missing to this day. Two thousand and eight failings are still happening today. I weep for my country, and the selfish wickedness people experience,” the ex-West Brom star said while reacting to the NFF and Waldrum words exchange.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will begin on July 20, with the opening match between New Zealand and Norway. But Nigeria will not play until the second day of the tournament when they face Olympic champions Canada in the Group B opener.

In their second game of the group, Super Falcons Nigeria tango co-hosts Australia before facing debutants Republic of Ireland in their final game of the group stage. The team’s face and arguably the most important member of the squad Asisat Oshoala has Nigerians that the team will make them proud at the World Cup. 

“Please, and please, come rain, come sun, stay put with the Super Falcons. We are going to make you proud, and we are going to put in one hundred per cent effort, and that’s a promise,” the Barcelona forward said. “We are going to play our hearts out there every time we get the opportunity. But please, we need your support.”

“Whatever happens, whatever goes wrong, it is the support that would help the team get better in the next game. So we need your support, and we promise to make you proud,” she added.