The FIFA-licensed intermediary says the arbitration body has recovered over a billion naira for players and coaches this year alone, but wants an end to clubs treated as “sacred cows.”
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FIFA-licensed players’ agent Eddie Ogbemudia has commended the Nigeria Football Federation, the National Sports Commission and the Players’ Status Arbitration Committee for reforms he says are genuinely improving welfare conditions for footballers in Nigeria, speaking to Sports247.
Ogbemudia singled out PSAC for particular praise, saying the committee has become more effective over the past year than at any point in the last decade. He credited the body, under the leadership of Otunba Sunday Dele-Ajayi, with helping players and coaches recover more than N1 billion in unpaid salaries and contractual entitlements over the past 12 months, covering both Nigerian and foreign born professionals.
Praise For Enforcement, But Room For Improvement
He also credited the NPFL and NNL for generally enforcing PSAC’s rulings, describing their record as commendable while acknowledging there is still work to do.
Ogbemudia’s biggest concern centred on clubs that continue to find ways around sanctions. He said some clubs still manage to register new players despite active transfer bans, calling it a loophole that weakens the credibility of the entire system, and argued that Nigerian football needs to move away from treating certain clubs as untouchable, insisting the rules should apply evenly across the board.
Backing The New N2m Minimum Wage
Turning to the recently approved N2 million monthly minimum salary for NPFL players, Ogbemudia welcomed the move as a positive step, though he suggested Nigerian players still deserve more given that professionals in several smaller footballing nations already earn between $5,000 and $10,000 a month. He called the new wage floor a good start, but stressed that its real test will be enforcement, arguing that Nigerian football has always struggled more with implementing policy than designing it.
He urged clubs to comply fully with the new wage structure, while suggesting that where a club genuinely cannot afford the benchmark for economic reasons, stakeholders should work out a realistic and sustainable pay structure together rather than simply ignoring the rule. Ogbemudia closed by saying Nigerian football needs a system that lets players earn a decent living at home, rather than pushing talent to leave for smaller leagues abroad, in countries like Benin Republic, purely because of poor pay in the domestic game.
📌 Did You Know?
- The Players’ Status Arbitration Committee is responsible for resolving contractual disputes between players, coaches and Nigerian football clubs.
- The new N2 million monthly minimum wage for NPFL players marks a significant increase from previous salary benchmarks in the league.
- Salary disputes and unpaid wages have historically been recurring issues in Nigerian domestic football at both club and coaching level.
- Several Nigerian players have moved to smaller West African leagues in the past specifically due to more reliable pay structures.
- FIFA-licensed intermediaries like Ogbemudia are officially registered agents authorised to represent players in contract negotiations.
