Finidi George's Nigerians are emboiled in yet another cash row which now threatens to stop their African Nations' Cup semi-final appearance against Senegal tomorrow.

As seems to be usual, the row is over cash the players claim they are owed by the Nigerian Football Association. This time $2,500 the players say the NFA agreed to pay them for their return flights back to their clubs.

The NFA and the Nigerian Sports Ministry are determined to pay just the value of the tickets and not a flat-rate all round. The most expensive of the tickets is reportedly $1,800.

There were a series of meetings yesterday, but these ended in deadlock and the players are threatening to pull out of tomorrow's game.

Before the tournament began there was a row about unpaid bonuses from World Cup qualification and then a row about the team's new kit. These were eventually resolved as we suspect will be the case this time around.

Definitely out of tomorrow's match with Senegal at the Modibo Keita Stadium in Bamako is keeper Ike Shorounmu who collided with teammate Isaac Okoronkwo during the 1-0 win against Ghana on Sunday.

The extent of his head injury worried the entire Nigerian squad, team physician Doctor Muazu: "He is OK but is still in shock. We were scared stiff on our way to the hospital. He was still and his state frightened us the more. Even when he regained consciousness, he was muttering words that were strange to the ears. But once at the hospital and he regained consciousness, he was asking where he was. At a later stage, he was asking the outcome of the match. It was a near fatal accident."

He will be replaced by Murphy Akanji in tomorrow's game (KO 4pm Eurosport).

Photo: Action Images

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