The Nation Newspaper

Tag: nff

  • NFF divided over new contract for Keshi

    NFF divided over new contract for Keshi

    Members of the Nigeria Football Federation are at loggerheads on whether to give out of contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, a new contract with a majority still seriously opposed to this.

    It has been reported that the leadership of the NFF wants Keshi to be given a new contract despite failing to qualify Nigeria to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in order to retain their jobs in the Glass House.

    A top source told africanFootball.com that this group believes Keshi’s “very powerful friends” will finally accept them if they give “Big Boss” a new deal.

    However, this group is opposed by a majority on the NFF executive committee who has stuck to the earlier decision to sack Keshi.

    Several top coaches including Shuaibu Amodu, Christian Chukwu and Adegboye Onigbinde had recently asked Keshi to walk away from the job because he has failed.

     

  • Amokachi replaces injured Zango with Idris

    Amokachi replaces injured Zango with Idris

    • Eagles, NFF celebrate Salami’s marriage

    Super Eagles’ Assistant coach, Dan ‘the Bull’ Amokachi has swung into action as preparation for the FIFA free window games against Cote D Ivoire and Mali in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates gathers steam.

    The Tunisia ’94 Nations Cup and Atlanta ’96 Olympics winner has moved quickly to stabilize the team for the friendlies by dropping injured Kano Pillars central defence ace, Zango Umar for emerging Mighty Jets of Jos star defender Ahmed Idris. He reiterated the fact that despite the absence of Head Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, the team will assemble in Abuja on Sunday, December 28, to commence preparations for the games. The two games are scheduled for January 9 and 13 in the UAE.

    In a similar development, members of the national team, the Super Eagles and the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation, headed by Melvin Amaju Pinnick have been celebrating the successful wedding of national team striker, Fuad Gbolahan Salami at the wedding in Lagos.

    The talented striker got hooked finally to his heartthrob Opoloyeru Surat Ololade, in an impressive event held at the Glover Memorial Hall, Tinubu Square, Marina, with Eagles Team Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor, representing the national team and the NFF.

    Achor, said apart from the leadership of the NFF sending their goodwill message, the Super Eagles technical crew and players led by Skipper Vincent Enyeama,  sent words of encouragement to the player, wishing him the best that marriage offers and Salami himself was quite appreciative of the presence of officials of the NFF and the national team. “It’s a sign that we are getting more responsible players who see marriage as a way to stabilize their lifestyle and career”, Achor said of the event.

  • Ranchers vs Kwara United fracas: NFF vows to deal with culprits

    Ranchers vs Kwara United fracas: NFF vows to deal with culprits

    • Awaits official report of the match

    The Nigeria Football Federation  (NFF) has vowed to apply the necessary punishment to the erring club in the rescheduled Nigeria National League (NNL) match between host Ranchers Bees of Kaduna and Kwara United of Ilorin that ended in a fracas at the Abuja National Stadium’s Goal Project Center on Friday.

    The Appeals Committee of the NFF had ruled that the remaining 28 minutes left to be played when violence erupted in the first encounter in Kaduna be played in the replay match held in Abuja on Friday. But barely six minutes to go, irate fans invaded the pitch and unleashed mayhem on Referee Charles Ozigbo (from Anambra).

    The match was again abandoned for the second time and the Referee could have been lynched but for the timely intervention of the handful of Policemen at the stadium who did everything to ensure that Ozigbo, although seriously assaulted by the irate fans, eventually escaped.

    Director of Competitions of the NFF, Dr. Muhammed Sanusi, told SportingLife yesterday that the NFF is awaiting the reports of the match from the appropriate quarters (the referee, match commissioner and others sources) after which the relevant committee dealing with such cases would meet to decide on the matter.

    “We are greatly disturbed and shocked by what happened in the match between Ranchers Bees and Kwara United at the Goal Project Center on Friday. Right now we are still awaiting the reports of the match after which the relevant committee will deliberate and decide on the matter based on thorough investigations of what happened during the match.

    “I would say once again that the NFF is not happy with this incident and we will come out hard on the culprit after due investigation”, Sanusi declared.

    The winner of the expected boardroom decision will pick the fourth promotion ticket to the Nigerian top flight. Wikki Tourists, 3SC and Gabros FC have already booked passages to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

  • Pinnick: Running the NFF isn’t easy

    Pinnick: Running the NFF isn’t easy

    President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has submitted that they must start doing things correctly if they are to get the desired results for the country.

    The embattled Pinnick, who has had to battle issues of legitimacy over his election as the NFF boss, says they cannot achieve the right results if they don’t do things properly, as he spoke on the challenge of organising almost all the national teams that have got major engagements next year.

    “There are a lot of things we are doing and the truth is, if we don’t sit down to do things properly, there’s no way we will achieve any result. If we jump into a problem, it continues to linger as a problem so we are taking our time, sitting down and looking at it, and coming out with something that will make us proud to be Nigerians,” Pinnick said.

    The 44-year old has also admitted that running Nigerian football is not easy, as he has to look after thirteen national teams and not just the Super Eagles or the Super Falcons, and adds that as a result, they must continue in capacity building.

    “We have been going through a lot of turbulent times and we are only just settling down to do some of the basic work that we have to do. It’s not easy running the NFF because we have thirteen national teams, not just the Super Eagles or the Super Falcons.

    “And that’s why we have to do extensive capacity building in coaching and refereeing and it’s just because we know ideas are stagnated and ideas have to be built and that’s what we are doing.”

  • NFF to receive additional N56m FIFA World Cup bonus

    NFF to receive additional N56m FIFA World Cup bonus

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is to receive additional $300,000 (about N56m) from World football governing body, FIFA from 2014 World Cup revenues.

    This is in addition to the $9 million (about N1.7bn) accruing to the Super Eagles for reaching the last 16 at the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

    FIFA said the payment which is meant for each of its 209 member federations, will help cover “the costs of qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.”

    The payments follow FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s promise in June that each member will get a $750,000 bonus.

    The world football authority banked more than $4 billion from commercial deals linked to the tournament.

    The bonuses would be paid equally to South American nations playing 18 qualifying matches and teams in other confederations set to be eliminated after just two matches.

    In 2014 World Cup qualifying, four of FIFA’s then-208 members did not enter and two later withdrew.

    FIFA said payments must be approved by audit committee chairman Domenico Scala.

  • Siasia praises NFF for friendlies

    Siasia praises NFF for friendlies

    The Chief Coach of the national U-23 men’s football   team, Dream Team VI, Samson Siasia has praised the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)  for arranging top grade friendly games for the team as they prepare for the qualifiers in February 2015.

    The U-23 coach disclosed that the NFF has secured for his team a four-legged international friendly game against the Egypt U-23 team with the first game coming up in Nigeria on  January 15, and the second game on January 17, while the Dream Team VI will take on their Egyptian counterparts in Egypt on January 20th and 22nd.

    Coach Siasia added that the team will then depart for Turkey for another round of intensive training and playing tour, while he is proposing that they depart from Turkey to Dubai then Malta for more top grade friendly games before returning to Nigeria on  February 7, 2015 to prepare for its first game against Gabon in an All Africa Games qualifier.

    According to the media officer of the Dream Team, Timi Ebikagboro, the team which will be going on break on December 21 will reconvene on January 4, 2015 and training will commence on January 5.

    Meanwhile four more foreign based professionals have stormed the camp of the Dream Team VI. The new arrivals are Iroha Chinazom from AD Oliveirense, Portugal, Ovoke Benard from KAA Gent, Belgium, Gomo Onduku from Iasi, Romania and Adedapo Adeniyi from the USA. These new arrivals thus brings the number of foreign-based players who have reported to the Dream Team screening process to 23.

  • Why Adidas won’t renew contract with NFF

    Why Adidas won’t renew contract with NFF

    It is now clear that the controversy trailing the possible renewal of contract between the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and German kits firm, Adidas may have been laid to rest as Adidas’ spokesperson has confirmed to SportingLife that the firm will sever ties with NFF when their contract lapses on December 31, this year.

    Although NFF President, Amaju Pinnick has been optimistic that the contract would be renewed but an enquiry from Adidas by SportingLife has finally confirmed that the contract would not be renewed.

    The Senior Global Public Relations Manager, Adidas Football, Alan McGarrie said : “It’s also important to say at this point, in order to be clear, that our contract with the NFF expires on December 31, 2014 and it will not be renewed.

    “We constantly review our partnerships and on this occasion we decided it was best not to extend our contract with the Nigerian Football Federation. We consider various factors when renewing contracts with our partners and the details of this decision will remain private,” he added.

    He, however, explained the nature of the support Nigeria has been getting from Adidas. “Adidas has been the Official Technical Partner to NFF for several years. Our sponsorship has covered some of Nigeria’s greatest ever football successes, such as FIFA World Cup qualification in 2010 and 2014, the African Cup of Nations win in 2013, and subsequent 2014 FIFA Confederations Cup campaign,” McGarrie said.

    Besides sponsoring the national teams, the Adidas spokesperson said the company has also supported NFF in many grass-root initiatives.

    “Through our association with the NFF, we have also invested heavily in many grass-root initiatives, which have helped to support the growth of football in the region,” he added.

  • NFF Staff in prayer, fasting over crisis

    NFF Staff in prayer, fasting over crisis

    Staff of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) declared a day fasting and prayers yesterday calling on God’s intervention to quickly put an end to the crisis bedeviling Nigeria Football which is also having a negative impact on the staff of the Federation

    The Staff SportingLife reliably gathered have not been paid five months salaries as a result of this crisis and they believe that the best way to get speedy resolution to this crisis is to turn to the Almighty God to intervene.

    “Almighty God is the controller of heaven and earth and can change a bad situation to the best one. So we believe that the best way to help Nigerian football is to go on our knees and fast and pray fervently to intercede and also call on God to put an end to all problems confronting Nigerian football. This is what we are doing both Muslims and Christians, we have all come together in one accord to pray for Nigerian football”, the Head of International Department, Bola Oyeyode told SportingLife in Abuja yesterday.

    Oyeyode disclosed further that “We have no choice but to declare this prayer section because we are getting tired of this whole trouble in our football. We are the ones suffering more in this trouble and people outside may not know that. So both Christians and Muslim came together to organize the fasting and prayer section.

    “It is not only prayer section, we also declared fasting and we encouraged our members to fast from morning to 6pm and those who were not able to make it till 6pm were encouraged to break by 3pm, but everybody fasted.

    “The prayers were massive, the Christian prayed in their own way, the Muslims prayed and you could see the manner the prayer went, you will know that members of the staff were really concerned with what is going on in the NFF secretariat,” he said.

  • I received FIFA’s letter – Amadu

    The General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Musa Amadu, has debunked a report that he denied receiving a letter from world football –governing body FIFA which upheld the majority decision of the NFF 2014 Electoral Appeals Committee.

    “How can I deny receiving a letter that was addressed directly to me?

    “I don’t know where that report is coming from.

    “I duly received the letter and my position is that we now have peace of mind to focus on our plans and programmes for the development of Nigerian football,” Amadu maintained.

    FIFA on Tuesday upheld the majority decision of the NFF 2014 Electoral Appeals Committee that accepted the NFF 2104 Elective Congress of September 30th, 2014 in Warri, the Delta state capital.

    That the Elective Congress brought into office Amaju Pinnick as NFF President, with other persons also into the NFF Executive Committee for a four –year term.

    FIFA’s letter, signed by the Secretary General, Mr. Jerome Valcke, also disclosed that arrangements are being concluded for a meeting between FIFA’s President, Mr. Sepp Blatter and Mr. Pinnick.

  • NFF electoral c’ttee receives appeals rulings

    NFF electoral c’ttee receives appeals rulings

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) electoral committee has disclosed it received the authentic report of the NFF electoral appeals committee.

    Chairman of the electoral committee Samson Ebomhe told AfricanFootball.com:“We have received the report of the appeals committee and as I talk to you I am presently studying the rulings.

    “I have sent the copies to my committee members across the country and they should be studying it too. We will have to meet and take the next line of action.

    “We would abide by the verdict of the appeals committee as properly constituted.”

    On whether seven days was enough to conduct bye-elections into the vacant offices, Ebomhe said: “Nothing is cast in stone. If we envisage that seven days would not be enough we will get back to the appeals committee and seek for more time.”