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Tag: nff

  • NFF accused Keshi of insubordination – Danagogo

    NFF accused Keshi of insubordination – Danagogo

    The Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, has finally revealed reasons why the Nigeria Football Federation hesitated in reappointing Stephen Keshi as Super Eagles coach.

    Keshi, who recently signed a two-year contract with the NFF to continue as Super Eagles coach, was left hanging in the wind for nine months before he was confirmed to continue, although he handled the team on interim basis after his contract expired last July, sl10.ng reports.

    And Danagogo has revealed that the NFF’s hesitation was not down to incompetence on Keshi’s part, but due to “lack of respect’ and ‘insubordination.”

    “When I interviewed the NFF board members when they were yet to re-sign him, they weren’t even complaining about incompetence or anything of the sort.

    “But it was more of them complaining of Keshi not respecting their superiority and insubordination on his (Keshi’s) part,” he told sl10.ng.

    The outgoing Sports Minister however said he believes both Keshi and the NFF have learnt their lessons and advised they should cooperate more and work better together.

    “I believe Keshi has learnt his lessons, and so also the Nigeria Football Federation. I think they should cooperate and work well together and if they do, they will succeed,” Danagogo concluded.

  • NFF SETS UP NORMALISATION COMMITTEE FOR AKWA IBOM

    NFF SETS UP NORMALISATION COMMITTEE FOR AKWA IBOM

    A normalisation committee is to be set up by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to plan towards the election of members to run the Akwa Ibom State Football Association.

     Ibrahim Gusau, Board member of the NFF and Chairman of chairmen said in Uyo on Tuesday that as far as the “…NFF was concerned, elections did not hold in Akwa Ibom, so a normalisation committee will be put in place in the next 48 hours to work towards holding a free and fair election in the state….”

    Gusau, who was in the company of   Paul Bassey had earlier addressed stakeholders in the state on the anomaly that led to the illegal election that was purported to have been held.

    He said on the receipt of protests and petitions, the NFF waded into the matter and asked that the election be postponed until all the pending cases were resolved, consequent upon which no member of the NFF electoral committee was in the state to supervise the elections.

    “It is unfortunate that the secretariat of the state FA feigned ignorance of the NFF directive preferring instead to go ahead with the election that disenfranchised majority of  the stakeholders”

    Representatives of the coaches, players, sports writers, referees and clubs spoke, expressing dissatisfaction with the way the elections were conducted in a clandestine manner.

    Some members tendered protests duly submitted and signed for that were not treated.

     The Special Adviser to the Governor on sports, Mr Isong Isang said the meeting should chart a way forward because there was no doubt that all was not well with the elections, since he, even as Akwa United Chairman was kept in the dark about the conduct of the elections including the publishing of the list of delegates that was not done prior to the elections.

    In his defense, the immediate past chairman of the state FA, Effiong Johnson claimed the elections were free and fair and that he was a victim of politics.

  • 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers: NFF confirms Mali’s withdrawal

    2016 Olympic Games qualifiers: NFF confirms Mali’s withdrawal

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed Mali’s withdrawal from the 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers, just as sl10.ng reported last night.

    Sl10.ng had earlier broken the story of the Malian women’s team pulling out of this weekend’s Olympic Games qualifiers against their Nigerian counterparts, and the NFF has gone to confirm their withdrawal.

    Sl10.ng, as earlier reported, can confirm again that a letter from world football –governing body, FIFA arrived on Thursday evening, informing the Nigeria Football Federation of the development.

    “We would like to urgently share with you that the Mali Football Federation has just formally notified FIFA of the withdrawal of its women’s national team from the Olympic qualifiers. By way of consequence, both leg matches of the 2nd round are cancelled and your women’s national team is automatically qualified for the 3rd round matches. Further details regarding the 3rdround will follow in due course,” FIFA’s head of World Cup and Olympics Qualifiers, Gordon Savic wrote in a letter to the NFF.

    Savic also wrote to NFF’s Deputy Director (Competitions), Bola Oyeyode: “We thank you very much for your acknowledgement of our notification and we commend you for your excellent support in spite of the sudden new circumstances.”

    The development means the Super Falcons have now qualified for the third round of the qualifiers, with the first leg coming up mid-July, ahead of a final round of qualifiers scheduled for October 2015.

  • NFF sets the record straight on England friendly

    NFF sets the record straight on England friendly

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dismissed suggestions that the Super Eagles will play a friendly with The Three Lions in the foreseeable future.
    General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi has admitted that there is nothing concrete despite NFF boss Amaju Pinnick visiting the Chairman of The FA, Mr. Greg Dyke on Tuesday.
    “It is understandable that any news of a proposed friendly between Nigeria and England would generate global interest, as it has done. Both teams last played any match at senior level about 13 years ago.
    “However, we must say at this stage that the proposal is still at the level of discussions and nothing concrete has been agreed as to when the match will hold.
    “We are awaiting feedback from the FA and will report on the outcome accordingly,” Sanusi said in a press release.
    The Super Eagles have not tackled England in an exhibition game since November 1994, in which they lost 1 – 0.

  • NFF confirms arrival date for Genk defender

    NFF confirms arrival date for Genk defender

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed that defender Wilfred Ndidi will join the Flying Eagles camp in Germany next Monday.

    “Ndidi will join us on Monday. We have this assurance from both the player and his club,” Flying Eagles secretary Ibrahim Aliyu Auwal was quoted on the NFF website.

    The 18-year-old Ndidi, who plays for Genk in the Belgian Jupilar League, is one of four European-based players expected to team up with African champions Nigeria ahead of the U-20 World Cup, which begins in New Zealand on May 30.

    The others are, Isaac Success of Granada (Spain); Moses Simon of Gent (Belgium); and Kelechi Iheanacho of Manchester City (England). They are expected to join the team at their training camp in Nuremberg, Germany.

    Ndidi’s Genk are involved in the UEFA Europa League playoffs and are currently tied with Group A leaders Mechelen on 12 points apiece after five rounds of matches. They will play their last match in the playoffs on Saturday at Zulte-Waregem.

    This will be Ndidi’s second U-20 World Cup as he also featured at the 2013 tournament in Turkey under John Obuh.

    All four mentioned overseas-based players are expected to make Manu Garba’s 21-man squad for the tournament.

  • It’s not our duty to sell Eagles’ jersey – NFF

    It’s not our duty to sell Eagles’ jersey – NFF

    NIGERIA Football Federation Director of Marketing Idris Adama has revealed that the responsibility of ensuring that the national team jerseys are available in various shopping malls is not the responsibility of the NFF.

    Adama, who spoke to SportingLife in Abuja, said the responsibility is that of the kit manufacturing company working in conjuction with their marketing agents in Africa. “I think it has become important to educate our football fans how these things work.

    It is not the responsibility of the NFF to make available the replica jerseys of the national teams in the market. It is the responsibilty of the kit manufacturing company.

    They have their various marketing agents all over the continents, these agents work with the businessmen in the various countries to make the kits available in the market. I think the problem we have been facing in the country is that our businessmen have not deemed it fit to invest in this aspect, and that is  the major reason why we have not been having our replica jerseys in the shops.”

    He said they would continue to appeal to Nigeria businessmen to make good use of the opportunity provided by the new contract the NFF entered with NIKE to make the replica jerseys available to Nigerians .”It is always a thing of joy to see soccer fans wearing their team’s jersey whenever they are playing, we are ready to support any businessman who would come forward to invest in the business of making our national team jerseys available to Nigerians”.

    The NFF Marketing boss,however refused to let us into the colour of jersey that NIKE would produce for the national teams either the dark green colour or the lemon green colour that has been widely condemned by all Nigerians.

  • NFF risks losing kit sponsorship deal

    NFF risks losing kit sponsorship deal

    Super Falcons have been in intensive training ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

    The Nigeria Football Federation could be at risk of having their $750,000-3 and a half year deal cancelled or not extended should the players of any of the National teams breach the terms of the contract as was the case with the previous kit sponsors.

    General Secretary NFF, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi told players of the Super Falcons they would be the first to don the new NIKE kits and not the Flying Eagles as was early reported by the sports kit makers.

    According to the NFF African champions, Super Falcons will be given the honour of being the first team to use the new kits in a competitive game when they lock horns with Mali in an Olympics qualifying match on May 9 in Abuja.

    Sanusi said: “I urge you to be disciplined and desist from acts that will bring problem between NIKE, our new kit sponsors and the Federation. I must say here that one of the problems we had with Adidas was because some players were not respecting the terms of the contract. I urge you to assist the NFF in every contract we enter into.”

    The NFF will be supplied kits worth the sum of $1million in the year 2017 and 2018.

    There are also various bonuses specified for any of the National Teams that qualifies for major international championships, with the Super Eagles to earn up to the sum of $500,000 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

  • NFF, Nike reach agreement on kits’ deal

    NFF, Nike reach agreement on kits’ deal

    Nike and the Nigeria Football Federation have announced a new partnership in which Nike will design and develop football kits for the country national football teams from April 1 until at least 2018, Goal reports.

    Nigeria’s previous contract with German giants Adidas ended in December after the company decided not to renew due to contractual disagreements.

    Nike will design performance and training apparel, and equipment, including team kits and footballs, for the Nigerian national football team players at every level of the game.

    There will be an exclusive-edition team kit for all NFF teams until the 2016-17 kit launches in mid-2016.

    In addition, Nike will design an assortment of products for Nigerians to show their support for the national team, to be available from mid-2016.

    The Flying Eagles will be the first team to don the new Nike kit when Nigeria files out at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand starting May 31.

    “We are very pleased to partner with the Nigeria Football Federation, one of Africa’s premier teams,” said Laurent Payre, Nike Africa VP / General Manager. “The passion for football in Nigeria is renowned and Nike is committed to supporting and advancing the game at all levels through inspiration and innovation for young men and women.”

    NFF President Amaju Pinnick said, “This exciting partnership with Nike signifies our commitment towards building and strengthening a successful football future in Nigeria. The game enjoys a huge following across the country and we want to fuel participation and ultimately the success of our future national teams.”

    The partnership includes the following elements: supplying performance and training kits to all nine of the NFF teams at every level, including the men’s and women’s senior teams, men’s and women’s under-20 teams, men’s and women’s under-17 teams, men’s and women’s Olympic teams, and the men’s beach football team.

    Nigeria joins Nike’s portfolio of federation sponsorships including Australia, Brazil, England, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, the United States and others.

  • Keshi to be sacked if…

    Keshi to be sacked if…

    Stephen Keshi would be sacked if he fails to reach the semi-finals of the 2016 Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Championship for African Players based at home (CHAN), SL10.ng can exclusively report.

    The 53-year-old former Nigeria captain signed a new 2-year contract to continue as the Super Eagles coach, but SL10.ng understands he may not have as much ‘liberty of performance’ as he did in his previous contract.

    Clause 4.1 of the contract states that:

    “The NFF shall employ the head coach for a period of two (2) years. Provided in the unlikely event that the senior male national team (the Super Eagles) under the head coach fail to make it to the semifinals of the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in its absolute discretion may decide to terminate this present contract.”

    This now means Keshi must not just qualify Nigeria for the 2016 CHAN, but must also get to the semifinal of the competition at the very least.

    The former Togo coach won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa with the Eagles, after failing to lift the trophy in 19 years. But he was far less fortunate in 2014, as he failed to lead the team to the 2015 AFCON in a group that had South Africa, Congo and Sudan.

    The ‘Big Boss’ will also be sacked if the NFF feels he doesn’t possess the ability or competence to achieve the federation’s goals.

    Clause 4.3 reads:

    “Notwithstanding the provisions set out above or any other provision in this contract, the federation shall retain the right to terminate this agreement at any time where it is of the opinion that the coach, as demonstrated by his performance does not possess the ability or competence to achieve the federation’s objectives as set out in this contract. In such a case, the NFF shall summarily terminate this contract without prejudice to the settlement by the parties of any existing financial obligations between them.”

    Meanwhile, Keshi is also expected to consult with both the technical committee and the technical study group before selecting players for both friendly and competitive games.

    Clause 5.4 of the contract says:

    “The head coach shall select the best crop of players of the Super Eagles who are in his opinion ready to excel in friendly and competitive games in consultation with the technical committee and the technical study group of the NFF.”

    This is one area that could stir some controversy in the future, as it will be recalled that Keshi had some running battles with the immediate past technical committee of the NFF headed by Chris Green, over the invitation and selection of players.

    But speaking at the signing ceremony on Tuesday, Keshi says he has wholly agreed to the terms of the contract, and has no problems with the clauses.

  • NFF will sack more referees, Linus Mba reveals

    NFF will sack more referees, Linus Mba reveals

    RETIRED FIFA referee and consultant to the NFF, Linus Mba has warned that they will continue to use match assessors to appraise arbiters throughout the ongoing season and will axe those found culpable of undermining the standards.

    Speaking further, Mba disclosed that any referee found wanting will be dropped or suspended as was the case of the match officials sanctioned for their poor showing last weekend when Sunshine Stars controversially beat Dolphins 2-1 in Akure.

    “At the beginning of the season the NFF approved the use of referee assessors ; and these are professionals who are technically grounded in understudying referees generally, for that reason a lot referees had to work extra hard and anybody who does not meet up the standard, we’ve informed them we’ll drop them.

    “The two referees that were suspended are (John Charles and Ogunta Matador) because of poor performances and before then the Referees’ Committee invited one match official who was interviewed in Abuja to find out some technical problems with matches.

    “So this will continue throughout the season all the referees know that we have to now monitor them carefully if they are culpable we’ll drop them and continue with those ones who are ready to give the best service for Nigerian football.