Former Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to account for $960,000 he claimed was disbursed by FIFA to Nigeria and other participating nations in October 2022 to prepare for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
In a viral video on social media, Waldrum questioned the NFF over the apparent lack of a structured pre-tournament training camp despite receiving the funds.
“I have a real close contact here in the US who is 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 Cup. Where is that money?” he asked.
He criticised the team’s October 2022 friendly in Japan, describing it as poorly planned and logistically exhausting for players. “We flew to Japan, played the game, and returned home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game.
Five players who were supposed to start arrived the night before after 16 hours of travel. We wasted the last five days of that window to train,” Waldrum said.
Waldrum also highlighted deficiencies in Nigeria’s technical staff. FIFA allows teams to travel with up to 22 technical personnel, but Nigeria sent only about 11.
“I don’t have an analyst, and I scout. The US has scouts in Europe watching teams. We don’t even have scouts traveling with us to Australia. Everything I rely on is videos and what I can gather online,” he explained.
He added that FIFA permits business-class travel, with costs later deducted from prize money, arguing that inadequate travel arrangements and poorly organised training camps were unjustifiable.
