Former Super Eagles defender Ifeanyi Udeze has revealed how a disagreement over unpaid match bonuses nearly led him to slap an Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official during his playing days with the national team.

Speaking on The 5th House podcast shared on X, Udeze said the incident happened after a Super Eagles victory when players were expecting full payment of their agreed match bonus.

“Seriously, no joke, in 2003/2004, I almost slapped an NFF member,” he said.

According to him, each player was promised $5,000, but officials attempted to pay only half of the agreed amount.

“After we won a game; they were supposed to pay us $5,000 each,” Udeze said.

He explained that the official first approached senior players with a revised payment plan.

“He went to JayJay’s room, went to Kanu’s room, saying he wants to pay $2,500 first, then later when we come back again to the national team, he will pay the balance,” he said.

Udeze said the senior players redirected the official to him, which set the stage for the confrontation.

“JayJay and Kanu told him first go to Udeze’s room,” he recalled.

When the official arrived, Udeze said he was asked to sign for the partial payment, but he refused.

“He came and just gave me pen to sign,” he said.

He added that he immediately challenged the arrangement.

“I asked him, ‘What happened? Complete the money,’ he said there’s no money, next time we’ll complete the money,” Udeze said.

The former defender insisted that no player should be singled out or pressured into accepting incomplete payment without proper team agreement.

“I said go and meet the captain, talk to them, nobody has signed here, I am not supposed to be the first person to sign here,” he added.

The incident highlights long-standing concerns around bonus payments and player welfare in Nigerian football. (The Sun)

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