World Cup: ‘We didn’t receive a dime’ – Amaju Pinnick exonerates self on Qatar miss

Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Melvin Pinnick has revealed that his leadership did not ‘recieve a dime’ to prosecution of the World Cup qualifying matches against Ghana in March this year.

The Super Eagles were drawn with archrivals Ghana in the two-legged 2022 FIFA World Cup Playoffs matches in Kumasi and Abuja which saw the Black Queens earned qualification for the tournament hosted in Qatar.

In the wake of the unfortunate World Cup miss, Pinnick explained that Nigeria’s football is undergoing a new stage in relation to the country’s economic challenges and other spheres in the wake of claims of receiving $3.5 million.

“Nigeria is going through a phase and if I tell you that phase is not affecting every fabric of the society, I will tell you is not true,” the FIFA Executive Council member said in an interview on Channels Television in Qatar.

“We are going through a very negative phase in terms of the economy, not just Nigeria, most African countries, in terms of economy, in terms of security; there are a lot of challenges.

“Football cannot just thrive in isolation, there must be a foundation. There were a lot of issues, so people just look at it, why? I say it today, when Ghana played against Nigeria, in that doubleheader, my colleague told me the government appropriated $3.5 million for those two games.

“In Nigeria, I will say it with all due respect to everybody concerned, we are saying we did not receive a dime from the government, because at that point we didn’t consider it as being very critical, what we considered critical at that point was interfacing with the players.”

After a goalless draw in Kumasi, Black Stars forced the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in Abuja which ensured the Ghananian qualification for the global football Mundial.