***Promises more for players, officials as captain gets scholarship
The Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF) has redeemed cash promise it made to Nigeria’s U17 women team, the Flamingos ahead of FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Egypt last month.
President of the Foundation, Barrister Paul Edeh, who made the presentation of N600, 000 cash to the team on Thursday morning shortly after their training said he had promised to reward them with N100, 000 per goal scored against the Egyptians.
Eventually, the Flamingos scored 6-0 on aggregate to move to the final round of the qualifying stage against Ethiopia.
Redeeming the pledge, RSDF President, an elated Barr. Edeh showed appreciation to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the opportunity they offered the young girls to represent the country and he also thanked the coaches and staff for their commitment
“My appreciation goes to the NFF, for giving young people like you the opportunity to be able to represent us and represent us well. I also want to thank the staff who daily feed you with talents, improving on your competence to make sure you do not only represent Nigeria but also represent yourselves
“I will always maintain that anytime you go for a tournament or a competition, right in front of you is the name of your country, Nigeria Football Federation, you carry that banner representing Nigeria. But one unique thing is behind you is your personal number and the name of your parents, that is your family name. Meaning you are both representing your nation and also representing your family and no person here would want the name of their family to be soiled nor the name of their country to be brought to disrepute and that is why, indeed you have done very well.
“You will recall that the last time before your game against Egypt, I had made a commitment, I said that any goal you score will attract 100,000 naira. I was bragging because I knew the Egyptian team was a very tough one. You scored four goals.
“The commitment I made was just for that match. However, when the second match came and I spoke with some of your coaching crew and they told me that the match will be tough. I promised another hundred thousand for any goal. I was prepared to honour my word.
“What I’m doing today is not because I have so much, but because I feel young girls like you should be able to be rewarded and encouraged to do more. We are in a society where attention is given more to the men’s’ game than to the women. But all through this period the girls have not disappointed us. Super Falcons have qualified, Falconets have qualified and now, Flamingoes will qualify.
“On behalf of my foundation, Ratels Sports Development Foundation, that is inclined to supporting grassroots sports, my attention is focused basically on young people like you. Those who have made it and arrived, thank God for their lives but those of you who want to take over from them we will keep supporting you.
“It is not because we have so much, but just to encourage you. I want to assure that before the next match, I am still going to talk with officials at the NFF and see the commitment we can make to further boost your effort to ensure that you win the next match,” he said.
Barr. Edeh further promised to give the coaching crew $1000 if they eventually qualify the team to the World Cup.
He further renewed his promise of one goal for N100, 000 against Ethiopia, just as he encouraged the girls to learn from the coaches’ wealth of experience”.
Responding on behalf of the players, team captain, Alvine Da Zossu, thanked Barr. Edeh for his love for them as a father and his moral and financial support
“On behalf of the players, we like to say a very big thank you to you. Thank you, for not only fulfilling your promise but coming all the way here to talk to us like your children. We like to say a very big thank you, and also I will like to use this medium to thank our officials and our coaches because without them, this won’t have been possible, we wouldn’t have scored more goals, we wouldn’t have made Nigerians proud.
‘We want to say thank you to our coaches and officials for impacting all they’ve been doing for us and making to become better players and we pray that in our next match, we are going to do more. Thank you very much sir,” she said.
The RSDF boss later announced tertiary education scholarship, beginning with JAMB form payment for the captain.
The Flamingoes are in camp in preparation for their final game against Ethiopia in a bid to qualify for the World Cup in India.
They will play away against Ethiopia on May 20 before the final leg in Nigeria on June 2, 2022.