Former Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has raised fresh concerns over the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) handling of funds purportedly released by FIFA for the team’s preparation for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

In a resurfaced video circulating on X, Waldrum alleged that the NFF received $960,000 (approximately N1.4 billion in Nigerian currency) from FIFA in October 2022, funds he says were meant to support the Super Falcons’ build-up to the global tournament.

Nigeria reached the Round of 16 in Australia before bowing out to England on penalties, but the American tactician insists the team’s preparations were severely undermined by poor planning and lack of resources.

“I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA. This person told me that in October, every country was given $960k from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money,” Waldrum said.

The former coach criticized the NFF for failing to organize proper pre-World Cup camps, recounting how the team travelled to Japan for a friendly under chaotic conditions.

“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game, I think five players who were going to start for me, arrived the night before the game and the game was4 o’clock and they traveled 16 hours on the plane,” he lamented.

“And we played Japan and then we went home. We wasted the last five days of that window to train.”

Waldrum further claimed that FIFA provides financial support to federations unable to afford business-class travel, with deductions made from their World Cup earnings, meaning, according to him, the NFF had no justification for suboptimal logistics.

“So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.”

“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.”

The coach also faulted the NFF for failing to maximize FIFA-approved staffing provisions. According to him, while FIFA allows up to 22 technical staff members, Nigeria travelled with only about eleven.

“FIFA also allows your technical staff up to 22 people. Well, we have only about eleven. So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why don’t we have 22 people? I don't have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup,” he explained.

“We don’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I don’t even have anybody to scout games. If we get out of our group, I don’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I have to do is on videos and what I can pick up online.”

Meanwhile, the NFF is currently scrambling to secure an international friendly for the Super Falcons ahead of the next FIFA window as preparations intensify for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which also serve as a pathway to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

Adeyemi Adewale