Courtney Dike has explained why she rejected the bonus paid to her for representing Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup finals in Canada.
The 19-year-old girl, whose action has received widespread applaud, last week rejected the $7000 paid to her by the Nigeria Football Federation for participating at the competition.
Giving reasons for her action, Dike said: “I would like to respond to what I have been reading on the internet about rejecting bonuses. I am delighted to play for Nigeria whenever called upon. I knew before leaving for the U-20 World Cup that I would not accept any bonuses. Acceptance of prize money is against NCAA regulations (the division 1 collegiate governing body) here in the US, so that is the main reason for rejecting it...
“Knowing this beforehand, I still chose to represent the country because I believed the experience would be more valuable than the money, and I was right.”
The National Collegiate Athletics Association scholarship, which is worth $35,000 a year, has as its guiding rule; ‘You cannot accept payment or a promise of payment for participation in your sport’, hence acceptance of the NFF payment would have been seen as a breach of the rules which could attract a sanction or disqualification from the scholarship.
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