By Andrew Warshaw
August 21 – Nigeria has narrowly avoided being thrown out of international football after agreeing to recognise the FIFA-approved head of its federation.
Minutes before a ban was due to take effect following a protracted legal battle, the Nigerian authorities backed down and agreed that Amaju Pinnick, who was elected head of the Nigeria Football Federation in 2014, should remain in charge.
Pinnick had been locked in a bitter leadership dispute with Chris Giwa, who headed a rival faction having won a court ruling in June after protesting the result of elections that brought Pinnick to power.
While Pinnick was at the World Cup with Nigeria, Giwa, who believed he was the rightful leader and appeared to have the support of the government, took over the federation’s headquarters even though he is serving a five-year ban from the game, imposed in February for breaches of FIFA’s ethics code.
FIFA subsequently warned the impasse had to end and that Pinnick must return to full control or the country would be suspended because of government interference in the affairs of the association.
Nigeria’s Sport Minister Solomon Dalung, acting on the court ruling, had previously ordered Pinnick and his board to comply with the court and leave the NFF but was ultimately forced to back down.
In a statement FIFA said that suspension “will not take effect” after it had “received confirmations that the legitimate leadership of the NFF under President Amaju Melvin Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi has been given back effective control of the NFF and its offices.” Had the ban been imposed Nigeria would have been excluded from next month’s African Nations Cup qualifiers.
The NFF are due to hold fresh polls on September 20 when Pinnick’s four-year term comes to an end but for the moment, it seems, peace has been restored.
Before the FIFA statement Laolu Akande – Special Assistant to the Nigerian Vice President – tweeted: “The Federal Government has already conveyed to FIFA its firm position recognising the Pinnick-led NFF as the current and only NFF executive.”
The government would work with all stakeholders “to resolve (the) dispute in a timely manner,” he added.
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