The issues about Nigerian Davis Cup players’ bonuses after helping Nigeria secure promotion in Rwanda on 29 July, 2023, have now been put to bed.
After joining Ghana as the second team in Group IV to gain promotion to Group III of the Davis Cup event, Nigerians had high expectations from the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF).
The NTF Secretary, Makpa Aliyu, had in an interview with Nigeria Tennis Live, revealed that the federation was working towards giving the players their bonuses and allowances after their feat in Rwanda.
However, nearly one month after these promises had been made, the players had yet to receive anything from the federation.
The players were more riled by the fact that their counterparts from Ghana had been paid their bonuses right after the competition ended in Rwanda.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that some of them they were paid $400 for the local players while they were in Rwanda and got a balance of $1600 when they returned to Accra.
Their foreign counterparts – the players who traveled from abroad – were paid differently, especially since they had different expenses from their home-based colleagues. But these payments had been concluded as soon as the players returned.
As the clock ticked, Nigeria Tennis Live reached out to Engr. Dayo Akindoju, the president of the NTF, for clarifications on the issues being raised by the players and some concerned individuals.
He explained the reason for the delay, noting that the federation could have settled the players’ allowances had they gotten the ITF grant earlier.
According to him: “They gave us a grant of $20,000, and it just came in. I’ve asked the secretary to prepare the money but I must warn that there’s no provision for bonuses.
“The players will get what they’re due, that’s for sure, but if we calculate what was spent by the NTF, we may have overshot the grant by the ITF.”
While expatiating further, the NTF President noted that each of the players is likely to get about $1,000 each for their efforts at the competition.
“The accommodation alone for the tournament was about $5,000, among other expenses we incurred in the process of this trip.
“Based on calculations, I think they should be getting about $1,000 each. If ITF had increased our grants for the tournament, we’d have done more,” Engr. Akindoju added.
The players will be looking forward to receiving the largess from the NTF in the coming days after this latest revelation by the NTF.