Nigeria
will no longer incur the wrath of FIFA following the decision of Chris
Giwa to vacate the post of President of the Nigeria Football Federation
on Monday.
The world football governing body had
given a five-day deadline, which expired 7am on Monday, for Giwa to stop
parading himself as the NFF President and for the nation’s football
body to revert to the status quo of August 25, when Aminu Maigari was
head of the body.
NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire confirmed
that General Secretary, Musa Amadu, resumed work at the NFF secretariat
on Monday with regard to the FIFA directives, and Giwa did not turn up,
indicating that the parties concerned in the football crisis had
complied with FIFA’s wish.
“In company with the NFF’s Director of
Competitions, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, and Director of Marketing, Mr. Adama
Idris, Amadu took full control of the secretariat and charged members of
staff to continue their work without any fear,” Olajire said.
But Maigari had yet to be seen at the NFF
secretariat. His tenure actually expired on August 25, but FIFA could
insist he continues until the elections of September 25.
A source in the football house, however,
told our correspondent that Amadu did not stay long at the NFF
secretariat because he had no office to carry out his duties. His office
was part of the secretariat that was razed by fire on August 20.
“There was no place for him to stay at
the NFF office so he only spent a few minutes this (Monday) morning. We
knew he would resume today because Giwa was not going to show up. Giwa
had already removed his personal belongings at the secretariat on
Friday,” the source said.
Amadu told reporters that he had been
working without restrictions at the secretariat on Monday, confirming
that the troubled times were over.
“So far, I have been working unhindered
and we will see how it goes between now and the close of work today. It
has been a difficult time for our football but everything is over now,”
Amadu told BBC Sport.
“Our attention should shift towards moving our football forward because the country’s football has gone through a tough period.
“The next step is to have an extra-ordinary assembly that will set a date for elections for the new executive committee.
“It is important to emphasise that this will not happen beyond September 25, as directed by FIFA.”
FIFA had banned Nigeria in July after the
World Cup when Maigari was forced out of the NFF by a court ruling. The
ban was lifted nine days later when Maigari was reinstated. But he was
later voted out of his position by the NFF executive committee.
A FIFA ban would have meant Nigeria would miss out on Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in South Africa.
Comments
Post a Comment
Hello