Former Nigeria international Duke Udi revealed that the legendary Super Eagles captain, Sunday Oliseh, put an end to the practice of home-based players being paid in naira while foreign-based players received their payment in dollars.
In an interview on Thursday, Udi disclosed that during a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Liberia in 2001 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, he was paid N200,000. However, some foreign-based players who didn't play in the game, which ended 2-0 in favor of the Super Eagles, were paid $5,000 each.
Oliseh, angered by the discrepancy in the winning bonus, demanded that every player return their $5,000. Udi shared Oliseh's reaction, saying, "How can you give someone who played N200,000, and someone that didn’t play the same match is collecting $5,000? He said no, that’s injustice."
Oliseh instructed Udi not to accept the money and to ask other players to return their payments. Eventually, all foreign-based players returned the money, and Oliseh kept it in his room. He then organized a meeting and declared that all players, irrespective of whether they played or not, would receive an equal share of the $5,000 given by the then Rivers State governor, Peter Odili.
Udi emphasized that Oliseh's intervention put an end to the era of home-based players being paid in naira while foreign-based players received dollars.
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