The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has requested for billions of Naira from the Federal Government for the Super Eagles AFCON campaign.

NFF president Amaju Pinnick confirmed that the federation has asked for “an intervention fund” as they often do for major tournaments like the AFCON and the World Cup.

“Things are very difficult (financially). We hope that our request will be approved,” admitted Pinnick.

The Government paid the NFF close to a billion Naira for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, but the federation will be asking for a lot more now because of a bigger squad of 28 players to Cameroon and the additional costs often incurred on account of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

It was gathered that a recent budget defence at the National Assembly, Pinnick stated that the NFF would need about 15 billion naira for both the AFCON and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Eagles though will have to first qualify for the World Cup through the final playoffs in March.

(Vanguard)