by Mark Bassey

19-year-old Super Falconettes player, Courtney Dike, has explained why she rejected $7,000 (N1,182,300) paid to her by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for participating in the 2014 U-20 Women’s World Cup.

According to the spokesperson of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ademola Olajire, Dike was unable to collect the money because she’s a student at Oklahoma State University, and collecting cash prize would violate the rules of National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), the collegiate governing body in the United States.

Dike reportedly 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.”