Nigeria: Super Eagles' pay dispute 'resolved' after training boycott ahead of World Cup qualifier | OneFootball

Crucial play-off game is set to be played on Thursday

Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong has revealed that the dispute between the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and its international players has been “resolved”.

The entire squad had boycotted training due to an ongoing stand-off over unpaid allowance and wages.

It is believed that some players are still owed bonus payments going back as far as 2019, with some claiming that bonuses due for their recent Africa Cup of Nations qualification are still yet to be actioned.

Nigeria take on Gabon on Thursday in their World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final, where, if they win, they will face either Cameroon or the DR Congo in the final.

The winners of that match will then move into the inter-confederation play-offs in Mexico next year in a bid to earn one of the final two places at the 2026 World Cup.

Now, however, it seems as though the dispute is over, with Troost-Ekong releasing a statement on X on Wednesday afternoon.

“Issue RESOLVED,” the former Watford centre-back wrote. “We are together and as before focussed on the games ahead!”

The Nigerian players were seen leaving the team hotel on Wednesday as they prepared to leave for training.

Former Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel called for corruption to be “rooted out” of the game.

"The corruption has to be rooted out of the game if we want to go forward, but now is not the best time to discuss that,” Mikel said on the ‘Obi One’ podcast.

“Now is the time for us to focus on the game at hand, which is Gabon. It is a difficult task for us. it is a mountain to climb and we need to be ready.

“Whatever the NFF have to do to make the players come back, feel comfortable, perform, give their best for the country, they have to do that right now. this is the time.

“We have the team to do it, the players to do it, one of the best strikers in the world right now. The whole team has to perform. Find the motivation in you knowing that this is the biggest game of our lives, the nation's lives.

“We have to qualify for the World Cup, no two ways about it."