Get Guardian on GoogleThe Confederation of African Football has paid $260,000 (N94 million) to each of the 24 teams that qualified for the 2019 African Cup of Nation scheduled to begin in June 2018.
The money is an advance payment from the premium that each country will receive for participating in the tournament. The payment was given to help federations or associations with smaller budgets meet the expenses of their preliminary preparations.
According to Collins Okinyo, a CAF media officer and CAF media expert, the amounts will be deducted from the premiums to be received by each country at the end of the tournament. The premium to be paid to countries is between US$ 4.5 million for the AFCON champion and US$ 475,000 for the teams eliminated at the group stages.
The payment was approved by the CAF Executive Council before the draw for the 2019 AFCON in Cairo, Egypt about a fortnight ago.
The tournament hosted by Egypt features an expanded format from 16 teams to 32 teams. It is also the first time that AFCON will be played in June/July rather than the former January/February calendar schedule.
Nigeria is in Group B alongside Guinea, Madagascar and Burundi.
The Nigerian Football Federation is yet to announce the pre-AFCON programme for the Super Eagles. After the final AFCON qualifier against Seychelles, the Super Eagles played against the Pharaohs of Egypt where forward Paul Onuachu scored the lone goal of the game.
