BY KUNLE SOLAJA
World football governing body, FIFA, disclosed Monday evening that it received confirmations that the legitimate leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, under President Amaju Melvin Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, has been given back effective control of the NFF and its offices.
This follows the memo the football governing body received from the Federal Government, which had earlier been made public by Laolu Akande, the spokesman for the Vice President, through his twitter handle at 11.30am, Monday, just 30 minutes to the deadline set by FIFA.
“In view of these circumstances, FIFA deems that the conditions set by the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council have now been met and consequently the suspension of the NFF will not take effect”, states FIFA in a statement released to the media on Monday evening.
It, however, states that it will “continue to closely monitor the situation in order to ensure that FIFA’s rules and regulations are fully adhered to”.
Meanwhile, with the Nigerian government affirming the FIFA recognized leadership of the NFF, which enabled the country to escape a looming ban from international football engagements, Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr is due back in the country and is expected to release the names of players to be employed for the Match Day 2 game with Seychelles on September 8.
The Super Eagles lost their opening match, 0-2 to South Africa last year June and need to work hard almost up till Match Day 4 to gain the group’s leadership.
The Crest recalls that Federal Government had initially backed Ambassador Chris Giwa as NFF President following a court order which reinstated him and annulled Pinnick’s election. Giwa and his board resumed at the Glass House in Abuja on July 2.
But the game changed suddenly for Giwa and his team, on July 23, as the Department of State Security, DSS, swooped on the Glass House and sacked them. The development awed many people in Nigeria’s football community.
FIFA, which recognised Pinnick as NFF President, had given Nigeria (and Ghana which was also having its own issues) an August 14 deadline to put their houses in order according to FIFA statutes. As the deadline elapsed without any change in the situation, the football governing body gave a final warning for both countries to comply with its order or risk international suspension.
In fact, FIFA made it explicit that clamp down on Nigeria might be immediate if the Nigeria Football Federation “offices are not handed back to the legitimate NFF executive committee under president Amaju Pinnick.”
But with Monday’s near zero-hour compliance and recognition of the Amaju Pinnick Presidency of the NFF by the Federal Government, FIFA will now have to sheathe its sword.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Chris Giwa five-year ban by FIFA for breaching NFF statutes and the FIFA code of ethics, as well as for “impersonation and taking football matters to a civil court” still subsists. Amaju Pinnick’s four-year term is grinding to an end as the NFF is due to hold new elections on September 20.
