NFF aware of Shehu’s suspension, says Sanusi

Nigeria Football Federation General Secretary Dr. Mohammed Sanusi has made comments on FIFA sanctioning Nigeria for lining up an ineligible player against Algeria on the final day of qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup, according to allnigeriasoccer.com.

Sanusi has admitted that he was aware that Anorthosis Famagusta rightback Abdullahi Shehu was ineligible for the game in Constantine and passed on the information to the relevant department but it was not acted upon by the officer in charge.

“Information that is sent usually is sent to the office of the General Secretary and the relevant departments are being copied for them to know what is happening,” Dr. Mohammed Sanusi said.

“We received that communication from FIFA long ago and we sent it to the relevant department for them to take note of.

“You will agree with me that the office of General Secretary is like a clearing house, when information is sent you now send it to the relevant department for them to make use of and if there is any progress they now revert to the office of General Secretary.

“That is why we have departments that are in charge of different segments. We have Technical, Competitions, we have Accounts.

“As I say, we do not want to trade blames here, we do not want to say this is the one that is at fault. A committee has been formed and we wait for the committee to finish their job.”

Nigeria were punished by FIFA for fielding Abdullahi Shehu, who was suspended, but this does not change anything as the Super Eagles had already qualified for the World Cup before the inconsequential match.

The Algerians were awarded a 3-0 win and Nigeria docked one point for their negligence.