|
Ikechukwu Ezenwa looks on course to be the NPFL's lone representative in Nigeria's 23-man squad to Russia, but it would significantly boost the league's coffers if other domestic stars made the World Cup squad. The reason is that there is a direct correlation between player representation from Nigeria's local league at the World Cup and financial reward from FIFA; simply, the more players from the NPFL in the 23-man squad, the more money comes to the league. For European clubs, the figures may look small, but for the Nigerian league, those figures could be striking. FIFA has tripled the pot of money going to the clubs for releasing players to the World Cup from $70 million in 2014 to $209 million in 2018. Each club is now entitled to $8,530 per player per day starting two weeks before the kickoff of the tournament in Russia and ending the day after the player's team is eliminated. For Ezenwa, who is the only domestic league player certain of making the squad at the moment, his club Enyimba would make a total of $238 840 if Nigeria were to be eliminated in the first round. That is about N86 million. That figure jumps to $272,960 (N98,265,600) If the Super Eagles advance to the round of 16 as runners up. As they would play two days later if they advance as group winners, the figure goes up to $290,020 (N104,407,200). A quarter-final place adds another five days to their earnings to take it to nearly $350,000 (N126 million) and so on.  According to the FIFA mechanism, that money would have to distributed pro rata to the clubs Ezenwa played for in the last two two years, that is Sunshine Stars and FC Ifeanyi Ubah. With two NPFL players those figures double and with three, a first round exit could bring in $716 520. That is over N250 million. However, who are the players who could reasonably break into Rohr's squad on merit? For the moment, only one seems to fit the bill. Since the start of the current Nigerian domestic league season, Kano Pillars striker Junior Lokosa has been in such red-hot form he could yet be a surprise gate-crasher to the World Cup party. The Pillars forward has struck 14 goals in 15 games so far, but it is more than his goals that should recommend him to the senior squad. Lokosa's development has been rapid, and despite that, his game continues to evolve almost as quickly as his rash of goals. However, because of his relative inexperience, both at club and international level, he would still find it hard to displace any of the starting and substitute forwards in the squad. If that happens, and he misses out, then one forward who has already been in the squad and could fancy his chances of making the World Cup is Gabriel Okechukwu. The Akwa United striker may be lacking in goals this season, but he already has international experience with the CHAN Eagles and has also spent time with the A squad. Failing all this, one foreign-based player who could possibly make the squad and still guarantee the NPFL a financial windfall is Stephen Eze. The Lokomotiv Plovdiv defender only left the NPFL in January, and if he makes the World Cup, the Nigerian clubs he's represented since 2016 - Sunshine Stars, Ifeanyi Ubah and Kano Pillars - would be in line to profit. Such an influx of cash would be a massive boost for the NPFL, but will any of the division's stars beyond Ezenwa make the cut for the grandest stage of all?
|
