The Technical and Development Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has recommended the immediate implementation of steps to curtail overhead costs in Nigeria football.

 In a sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, one of the major decisions is the review of the salaries of all the national team coaches, including that of Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi. Though he still has a valid contract.

The General Secretary of the NFF, Mr. Musa Amadu, told journalists that the federation was simply facing the reality on ground.

He said, “If you take just a simple look at the period around June and the cost implication for the country, for instance, you will understand that the measures being taken have become very necessary. We cannot continue like this; there has to be sensible auditing.”

The NFF added that based on the poor financial situation, the committee has also recommended the staff auditing of the technical crew and backroom staff of all the national teams. This move will see the national team coaches being cut down to maximum of two assistants and a goalkeeper trainer. The Eagles have three assistant coaches plus a goalkeeper trainer. The other backroom staffers are to be cut down too.

The players themselves were not spared in the latest decision. Their win bonus, which was raised to $10,000 some years ago, has been cut down to $5,000. The bonus became an issue after the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa as the NFF could not pay the final game bonus after it was nearly doubled from the pre-tournament rate.

“The Committee regrets the financial situation that has also necessitated the pegging of bonuses, review of allowances and salaries of coaches of the national teams,” the committee communiqué read.

The committee also considered the employment of coaches for positions of Technical Director of the NFF and the coaching staff of the U-23 national team but no names were listed.

It also waded into the war of words between Keshi and some of his players and assured that all conflicts and misunderstandings would be ironed out before the country embarks on the series of matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, as well as the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.