The Nigerian government has reaffirmed its commitment to fulfilling the $100k Super Falcons reward promised to each player of the women’s national football team for their 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) triumph.
This comes after the Super Falcons team captain, Rasheedat Ajibade, recently expressed frustration, noting that none of the promised rewards, including the cash, had been received as of mid-August 2025.
“We have not received our money. They haven’t delivered it. They will pay,” Ajibade said in an interview with Chude.
“All the promises we’ve been hearing, none have been fulfilled, so people should know, but hopefully soon. When they pay, it’ll be out there. Even our match bonuses and everything, it’s still a work in progress.”
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the $100k Super Falcons reward pledge in July 2025, following the team’s dramatic 3-2 comeback victory against Morocco, securing their 10th WAFCON title.
During a reception at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on July 28, 2025, Tinubu celebrated the Super Falcons’ resilience, conferring the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) honor on all 24 players and 11 coaching staff members.
Each player was also promised a three-bedroom apartment under the Renewed Hope Housing Scheme, alongside the $100k Super Falcons reward, while the technical crew was to receive $50,000 each.
In response to growing public concern about the $100k Super Falcons reward, Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, speaking during an interview with Arise TV on Friday, stated that logistical and administrative processes were being finalized to disburse the reward.
“On the promise Mr President made, we need to stop playing politics and games with everything, it will be paid. A few days ago, Mallam Shehu Dikko was still talking to the Minister for Housing and I sat down with the gentleman in charge of the Renewed Hope Homes, and work has already started on how they will get the apartments in record time,” he said.
Olopade added: “Look, we are in a government that fulfills promises; a whole lot of things have changed. When we tell athletes that ‘A’ will be given, they get ‘A’. We don’t play games with their remuneration, we don’t play games with them going for competitions. We are quick to say this is what we can do, go out and make the country proud.”
Speaking on match bonuses, Olopade claimed that the Super Falcons have received their tournament bonuses, except for a few players affected by banking issues.
He continued: “I have spoken to Ajibade directly and I have in my phone messages between Ajibade and Mallam Shehu Dikko, the chairman of the Sports Commission, where she vehemently denied ever saying their bonuses have not been paid.
“I know authoritatively that all their bonuses, without going into figures, have been paid.
“I have confirmed from NFF and I have confirmed from Ajibade, but for only one or two whose accounts have issues with the CBN, all of their monies have been paid in terms of the bonuses.”
