Africa-Press – Cape verde. A group of former members of the first Cape Verdean football team wants to receive the pension that was approved in 2021. The former players were at the Presidential Palace today to ask the head of state to intervene on their behalf.
“Like other personalities, citizens, institutions in the country, we, the former football internationals, honor the jerseys, proudly raise and defend the country’s flag, without demanding anything in return”, said one of the group’s members, Zé di Nhana, quoted by Inforpress.
This former glory of national football also recalled the time when, to represent the national colors, “they ate poorly, slept badly, in schools, gyms, tents, houses of friends and family, without any security, without any financial compensation.
Some have already died without receiving the pension “After the publication of this decree-law, some of our former teammates have already died without being able to enjoy the pension, others face health problems and malnutrition”, he said. That is why it calls for conditions to be created to not allow others to die “fallen in disgrace”.
According to Zé di Nhana, “with a life of misery, poverty and on the verge of death”, former football internationals are not only interested in tributes, although they recognize that these are “important gestures” that touch their souls and make them relive those exciting moments of their sporting journeys.
Influence In statements to the press, the group said that it was “very well received” by the President of the Republic, who promised to use his judiciary of influence to help them receive their respective pensions.
The same, it should be remembered, were created under Decree-Law nº115/IX/2021 of 2 February on the General State Pensions Scheme, which now includes the area of sport.
The former glories of Cape Verdean football have been complaining to the Government, since the beginning of 2019, for an old-age pension, with the argument that some athletes who once carried the national flag live in difficulties to survive and that, even, some lost their lives without ever having been financially recognized in life by the country.
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