March 05, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s goalkeeper, John Noble, has publicly opened up about his battle with depression over his $25,000 unpaid bonus from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite appeals to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to settle his claim, Noble, who is the only Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) star in coach Augustine Eguavoen’s squad, is yet to receive payment. He expressed disappointment that other members of the Super Eagles coaching staff and the Under-17 girls and Super Falcons teams had been paid recently, but not him.
Noble denied claims made by Ahmed Musa, captain of the Nigeria men’s senior national team, that he submitted a wrong account number, which was the reason for the delay in his payment being processed. Noble, who said he had never changed his bank details, also alleged that he was being blacklisted from future international duties because of his public outburst about his unpaid bonus.
Noble urged the NFF to address his issue before things worsen for him as he has so far incurred debts he needs to attend to with the unpaid bonus. THEWILL recalls that he was called up to the Nigeria national team in 2021 for the Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Benin Republic and Lesotho after his heroics during the 2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup second leg play-off round.
In that fixture against Rivers United at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, the 29-year-old goalkeeper saved two penalties and scored the decisive goal to cap off a truly sensational performance.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
