Nigeria averts Fifa ban at the 11th hour

Pinnick accepted as federation boss

Lagos – Nigeria acknowledged a Fifa-approved appointee as the sole head of its national soccer federation yesterday, minutes before the world body was due to ban the country from international matches over political interference in filling the post.

Fifa had said it would suspend Nigeria at 1pm SA time, thereby excluding the team from next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, over alleged state meddling in the running of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

The NFF voted in Fifa’s recognised leadership team, under Amaju Pinnick, in 2014. His longstanding rival Chris Giwa appealed against that result and, after a protracted legal battle, the high court found in his favour in June.

Giwa was handed a fiveyear ban by Fifa for breaches of NFF statutes and the Fifa code of ethics in February 2017. But he appeared to have the backing of the Nigerian government.

Sports minister Solomon Dalung included Giwa in a proposed list of delegates to meet Fifa president Gianni Infantino in Zurich last week, an idea Fifa rejected.

Fifa does not accept third-party interference in its member federations and said the NFF must be led by Pinnick.

Pinnick was in Lagos yesterday, rather than the capital Abuja where the NFF’s headquarters are located. Mohammed Sanusi, the NFF’s general secretary under Pinnick’s leadership, said “there are talks at the top level of government and I will confidently tell you there is no cause for alarm”.

In Abuja, armed security agents were posted outside NFF offices, preventing people from entering.

Nigeria are due to play a qualifier for the 2019 Afcon in the Seychelles on September 8. Their group includes South Africa and Libya. –