Former Super Falcons manager, Randy Waldrum, has raised serious concerns about the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following claims that the body received $960,000 from FIFA to prepare the national women’s team for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
In a widely circulated video on X, Waldrum alleged that a reliable FIFA insider informed him that every participating nation was awarded the same amount ahead of the global tournament. The funds—estimated at roughly N1.4 billion—were reportedly paid to the NFF in October 2022 as part of FIFA’s official support package for team preparations.
Despite this, Waldrum lamented that the Super Falcons did not receive adequate preparation, pointing out that no training camp was organised ahead of the competition and that the federation failed to provide business-class flight tickets for the squad. The American coach described the situation as an example of how financial accountability in Nigerian sports administration often goes unchallenged, unlike what would occur in the United States.
According to him, the NFF also limited his technical crew to just seven staff members—even though FIFA covers bonus payments for up to 22 personnel. Waldrum noted that he was forced to operate without essential backroom staff, including an analyst or scout, leaving him to rely solely on video footage to monitor opponents.
Speaking in the video, he said:
“I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA.
“This person told me that in October, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money,” Waldrum said.
“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home…
“We wasted the last five days of that window to train.
“So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.
“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.
“FIFA also allows your technical staff up to 22 people. Well, we have only about eleven. So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why don’t we have 22 people? I don’t have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup.
“We don’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I don’t even have anybody to scout games. If we get out of our group, I don’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I have to do is on videos and what I can pick up online.”
Despite the financial and logistical obstacles he outlined, the Super Falcons still advanced to the tournament’s Round of 16, where they were eventually eliminated by England in a dramatic penalty shootout.
About the Author
