Senate Rewards Flamingos With ₦100m After Historic World Cup Triumph
Nigeria’s victorious U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, have received a ₦100 million donation from the Senate following their historic triumph at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the donation during Tuesday’s plenary session while lawmakers debated a motion seeking national recognition and adequate rewards for the young champions.
Akpabio said the National Assembly would immediately release the money to support the players following their achievement.
“From the National Assembly, even if we don’t have anything to give these children, we will make a token of ₦100 million to them immediately,” he said.
The Senate President also congratulated President Bola Tinubu, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the players for their contributions to the historic success.
He urged wealthy Nigerians, business leaders and philanthropists to support the team financially, saying such gestures would encourage the players and inspire other aspiring footballers.
The donation followed a motion sponsored by Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central), who argued that the Flamingos’ achievement deserved greater national recognition and adequate rewards.
Presenting the motion, Ningi commended the players for exceeding expectations against highly rated opponents and said their triumph had demonstrated the potential of Nigerian sporting talents when given the necessary support.
Nigeria defeated Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat to become the first African nation to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring in the 39th minute before Oluebube Umejiaku doubled Nigeria’s advantage shortly after the restart. Japan’s Fuki Ito pulled one back in the 80th minute, but the Flamingos held on to secure the title.
The triumph also made Nigeria the first country to win both the men’s and women’s FIFA U-17 World Cup titles.
The Flamingos recovered from a 2-1 opening defeat to Poland to win their next six matches, overcoming Puerto Rico, DPR Korea, Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil before defeating Japan in the final.
Their achievement also made them the first team in the competition’s history to lose their opening match and go on to lift the trophy.
