‘We are not being provided with the best to do our job’- Leon Balogun hits out at NFF

The Rangers defender is not happy with the way the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) treats the Super Eagles players 

Leon Balogun has hit out at the NFF over some of the inhumane treatments they give to the Super Eagles players and coaches.

Balogun faults the NFF for not providing a permanent base for the Super Eagles home matches. He also criticised the accommodation provided and the conditions of pitches for these games.

Akwa Ibom used to be the Super Eagles base for their home matches, but in recent years, the team has had to travel to different parts of the country to play its home games.

The Super Eagles hosted Sierra Leone in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.

However, they hosted Lesotho in their final qualifier at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. However, Balogun is not happy with the arrangement.

“We are not being provided with the best to do our job,” Balogun told the beautiful game podcast. It starts with pitches, or it starts with accommodation, but it goes on to the pitches and all these kinds of things.

“If you want to see us soar, then you need to make sure back home in Nigeria we have the best possibilities. Why don’t we have a base in Nigeria, where we meet up like St. George’s Park in England. We don’t have something like that.”

Balogun admits his comment is likely to ruffle a few feathers at the glass house, but he doesn’t care about what they think.

The former Brighton defender also hit out at the NFF over the issue of unpaid bonuses. The players have not been paid their bonus for the Afcon qualifier, while the coach Gernot Rohr and his assistants are owed a backlog of salaries.

“Then you’ve spoken of unpaid bonuses. It’s not a secret even, and then I have read something recently when people in charge, they contradict themselves said things have been paid, then they admit they haven’t been paid,” Balogun added.