The Super Eagles have resumed training in Rabat, Morocco, after resolving their bonus dispute with the Nigeria Football Federation, ahead of Thursday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup African playoffs semi-final clash with Gabon.
Team media officer, Promise Efoghe, confirmed the development on Wednesday, saying the players were set to train later in the day.
“Issues resolved. Super Eagles to train at 5 pm,” Efoghe informed journalists in the team’s official WhatsApp group.
The Nigerian squad had earlier boycotted their second training session on Tuesday in protest over unpaid entitlements owed by the NFF.
Following the standoff, the team will now have just one full training session with the complete squad before Thursday’s crucial encounter.
While 16 players were already in camp on Monday, only 14 participated in their light recovery session, with Sevilla duo Akor Adams and Chidera Ejuke sitting out due to fitness concerns.
The boycott became public shortly before Tuesday’s planned training, when the players issued a joint statement through BBC journalist Oluwashina Okeleji.
“The full squad, including officials, withheld from training today (Tuesday) in Morocco because of unresolved issues with outstanding payments.
“The Super Eagles are awaiting a quick resolution to continue preparation for Thursday’s game with Gabon. Thank you. From the players,” the statement read.
Sources in Morocco confirmed that the players and officials entered discussions with both the NFF and the National Sports Commission, leading to an eventual compromise.
Although specifics of the agreement were not made public, NFF President Ibrahim Gusau addressed the situation in an interview on Wednesday, offering clarification on the matter.
“It’s not true that we have owed for 30 matches. Immediately after the AFCON last year, we sat down with the leaders of the team and we negotiated.
“So, before we came back to this year’s qualifiers, we reached an agreement with them and everything was cleared. So, if there is any outstanding we have with the Super Eagles, it has to do with the qualifiers, and these qualifiers we are playing, we, the NFF and the National Sports Commission, have reached an agreement with them. It’s not an issue of after the match we give you a match bonus, let’s go if we qualify, we are giving you so so amount of money.
“So, it’s not an issue of after every match; this is the match bonus we are going to give you, and they agreed. So anytime they are coming now, we just give them an appearance fee, which we have been doing through the National Sports Commission,” Gusau told Elegbete TV.
The Super Eagles will take on Gabon at the Complexe Sportif Prince Héritier Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat by 5 p.m. on Thursday.
