The Nation Newspaper

Tag: nff

  • ‘How Uduaghan influenced Amaju’s emergence as NFF president’

    ‘How Uduaghan influenced Amaju’s emergence as NFF president’

    THE Transition Committee Chairman, Ethiope East local government area, Delta state, yesterday, has attributed the success of Mr. Pinnick Amaju as president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), as the immense contribution of the Delta state government to sports activities in the state and across the nation.

    The council chairman, Hon. Sunday Onoriode gave this remark in Asaba, Delta state capital, at the weekend while reacting to the achievements made so far by the state government in the area of sports.

    Onoriode who said he was not surprised at the victory of the former Delta FC chairman, Mr. Amaju Pinnick Amaju as the elected president of the NFF, said he was shock that after the first and second round of the election, Mr.  Pinnick Amaju from Delta polled 32 votes, Dominic Iorfa from Benue State polled 6 votes and Ogunjobi polled 4 votes.

     

     

    He explained that Amaju’s victory came from Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s contribution to sport since he assumed office as the governor of Delta state, expressing confidence that he is optimistic that Amaju will not betray the confidence reposed on him.

  • FIFA TO NIGERIA: Amaju-led NFF must function unhindered

    FIFA TO NIGERIA: Amaju-led NFF must function unhindered

    World football governing body FIFA have issued another warning hinting that they will ban Nigeria if the newly elected leadership of the country’s FA is not allowed to function.

    There have been media reports that a group led by Chris Giwa, who claims to have been elected NFF president on August 26, will “resume work in Abuja on Thursday”.

    “We now expect the NFF and its new leadership to carry out its activities without any hindrance in order to avoid having to again refer the case to the appropriate FIFA bodies for an automatic suspension as stated in our previous correspondence,” Thursday’s letter signed by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valke read in part.

    “We would like to congratulate the members of the new board on their election and are confident they are committed to continuing the development of football in Nigeria.

    FIFA also commended the NFF for the successful completion of the executive committee elections on Tuesday with a special mention for NFF general secretary Musa Amadu.

    “We would also take this opportunity to praise the NFF and especially you (Amadu) on what has been achieved in recent weeks despite the various difficulties,” FIFA stated.

    On Wednesday, FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent a letter of congratulations to the new NFF President Amaju Pinnick, saying that he (Blatter) is looking forward to meeting with him and supporting him and his new board towards ensuring stable development of the beautiful game in Nigeria.

     

  • Disu passes vote of confidence on new NFF board

    Disu passes vote of confidence on new NFF board

    Former junior international and Ex Abiola babes player, Tajudeen Disu says the new Nigeria football federation executive committee will by extension benefit the domestic league in Nigeria based on the background of some of the members in the newly elected executive committee.

    In a chat with footballlive.ng, Disu reiterated that the present board is comprised of people who understands the league very well and will do better to help address the common issue of players been owed backlog of salaries because of their experience of the league.

    “They are people who understand the league and have wealth of experience. What is happening to all the teams right now isn’t good because at the end of day, they will still owe their players backlog of salaries and even bonuses”

    “I personally feel that we have people on this present board that are more experienced and as a result, will perform better”

  • OKPALA’S CAS CASE: NFF begins defence in Zurich

    OKPALA’S CAS CASE: NFF begins defence in Zurich

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) general secretary Musa Amadu is in Zurich, Switzerland, to defend the federation in a case brought against it by former Nigeria assistant coach Sylvanus Okpala.

    AfricanFootball.com specially gathered that Amadu, fresh from the NFF elections in Warri, is accompanied by A.U. Mustapha, a lawyer.

    Okpala has said he was forced to take his petition to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) after he exhausted all channels locally.

    He said he was wrongly sacked soon after Nigeria won a third African Cup of Nations at South Africa 2013 and that his match bonuses and allowances were also slashed without any justification.

    ‘Quick Silver’ Okpala was a former international and played most of his professional football in Portugal.

    In April, the NFF reduced the number of Super Eagles’ backroom staff from 17 to nine, as part of an expenditure review as its finances were tight. Assistant coaches Okpala and Valare Houandinou were the two big casualties of the exercise and head coach Stephen Keshi voiced his displeasure about the redundancies.

    Okpala’s case appeared to have been worsened by an incident in South Africa where the NFF leadership accused him of insubordination for daring to report the NFF’s president to top official of the Nigerian Sports Commission (NSC).

    It appears that in South Africa, when the allowances of some staff were slashed, Okpala called the official and reported the issue. This did not go down well with the NFF top brass who considered it as gross disrespect.

     

  • FIFA warns Nigeria against leadership tussle

    FIFA warns Nigeria against leadership tussle

    FIFA on Thursday said it would ban Nigeria if the newly elected executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation is not allowed to function.

    There have been media reports that a group led by the controversial Chris Giwa, who claimed to have been elected NFF president on August 26 will “resume work in Abuja on Thursday.”

    “We now expect the NFF and its new leadership to carry out its activities without any hindrance in order to avoid having to again refer the case to the appropriate FIFA bodies for an automatic suspension as stated in our previous correspondence,” africanFootball.com quoted the world soccer governing body as saying in a letter signed by its general secretary, Jerome Valke.

    The letter reads: “We would like to congratulate the members of the new board on their election and are confident they are committed to continuing the development of football in Nigeria.”

    FIFA also commended the NFF for the successful completion of the executive committee elections on Tuesday with a special mention for NFF general secretary Musa Amadu.

    “We would also take this opportunity to praise the NFF and especially you (Amadu) on what had been achieved in recent weeks despite the various difficulties,” FIFA stated.

    On Wednesday, FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent a letter of congratulations to the new NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, saying that he (Blatter) is looking forward to meeting and supporting him and his new board towards ensuring stable development of football in the country.

  • Keshi’s contract may not be renewed

    Keshi’s contract may not be renewed

    Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, may not be given a new contract by the newly elected Nigeria Football Federation executive committee, africanFootball.com reports.

    Several members of the new NFF board do not believe in the coach, although he will supervise the two AFCON qualifiers against Sudan later this month, he will not be offered a new deal.

    “Most members of the old board under Aminu Maigari have been returned, including Chris Green, who was technical committee chairman, and that can only mean bad news for Keshi,” a top source informed africanFootball.com

    “But most importantly even the newly elected executives, the very top officials, do not support Keshi continuing as coach.”

    The website gathered that Keshi will only be left in charge of the team for the matches against Sudan and thereafter a decision will be taken especially if by then Nigeria has mathematically lost out in the race for Morocco 2015.

    Keshi has become increasingly nervous since Tuesday’s elections in Warri because knows that his fate is hanging on the balance now.

    Keshi’s problems have been further compounded by the renewed interest of former Eagles coach Samson Siasia in the job.

  • NFF plots Siasia’s return as Eagles’ coach

    NFF plots Siasia’s return as Eagles’ coach

    Former Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, could be in line to replace Stephen Keshi as the team coach unless the Sports Ministry stops the Nigeria Football Federation from going ahead with the plan.

    Goal gathered from a top NFF official that Super Eagles’ poor performance in the ongoing African Nations Cup qualifiers has blotted Keshi’s record with the team.

    The official told Goal, “There are many factors standing in the way of Stephen Keshi in his bid to retain the Super Eagles job and I will give you a break-down. But before that I must say that Keshi must be most grateful to the Honourable Sports Minister,Tammy Danagogo, for fighting for his retention as the team chief coach.

    “The minister has never hidden his love and preference for him and he based it on Keshi’s past achievement which he said was more than necessary for him to continue his job. The minister still believes that the Eagles under Keshi could still bounce back and qualify for the 2015 AFCON in Morocco.

    “But we at the NFF here know that the problem with the team is more than what we are seeing from the surface. Firstly, there is no commitment on the part of the players Keshi is parading for the 2015 AFCON qualifiers and if something drastic is not done, Nigeria may not be among those nations that would campaign in Morocco 2015.”

    He also revealed that most members of the NFF executive committee are no longer at ease with Keshi’s alleged antics and disrespect towards them and now want another coach who would listen to them and respect them as his employers.

    “They have also not forgotten in a hurry the way the former Eagles captain allegedly humiliated the Aminu Maigari Board members during the Africa Cup of Nations which Nigeria won in South Africa and felt highly disappointed with the way the coach received all the accolades and praises from all and sundry without mere mention of the NFF Board and Secretariat.

    “We all know how Keshi threatened to dump the team in South Africa shortly after the Eagles won the 2013 AFCON. The controversies generated by this singular action put the NFF  in a bad light and so many other crises including the players threatening not to play one of the qualifying matches for the last World Cup as well as during the World Cup proper when the players demanded for their bonuses. These crises put negative mark on the NFF.”

  • NFF insists on Falcons’ overseas pros

    NFF insists on Falcons’ overseas pros

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will leave no stone unturned in trying to secure the release of several players of the Super Falcons ahead of the 2014 African Women’s Championships (AWC) in Namibia.

    The European clubs of several integral members of the Falcons – Perpetua Nkwocha, Esther Sunday, Onome Ebi and Desire Oparanozie – have expressed unwillingness to release the players on the grounds that the AWC is not on the FIFA calendar.

    The NFF has, however, expressed optimism that the foreign-based national senior team players would join the team’s camp soon ahead of the AWC in Namibia.

    The federation’s technical director, Emmanuel Ikpeme, disclosed that the football house is keen to see the players arrive at camp in time for early preparations.

    “The truth of the matter is that they will make it to the camp. We are in touch with them; they have some matches, you know their league is still going on,” Ikpeme told supersport.com.

    He added that the NFF is in constant contact with the players with a view to getting them cleared to join the Nigerian squad.

    “We are in contact with them and they have told us they will definitely come to be part of the squad.

    “Having said that, assuming that some of them cannot make it, we have good players who can take their positions,” he said.

    The last three months have seen Nigerian football hog the headlines for the wrong reasons with consistent crises at the NFF. Ikpeme, however, insists that the furore at the NFF has not affected the preparations of the Falcons for the AWC.

    “For now, I can’t really say but it is not ruled out; but the crisis in the NFF has affected so many things.

    “Initially, we had such plans and the plans are still there, but it is very difficult to say, because the bottom line of all these is funds. The FA is having serious challenge of funds now.

    “Of course I have confidence in the team because they have pedigree with regards to the AWC.

    “I am also happy with the fact that a few of them from the national under-20 team, the Falconets, have been added to this team and they are doing very well.

    “With the plans we have for them before the competition starts, I want to believe that they will be physically and mentally ready for the competition.

    “I made them to know that we are not just going to Namibia to participate.

    “They have to win that trophy although it is not their birth right, they have the capacity and competence to win that trophy,” Ikpeme said.

    The Super Falcons have been in camp since September 14 preparing for the AWC.

    Only one of the six overseas-based players invited for the AWC has arrived in camp.

    Nigeria are in Group A of the AWC alongside Zambia, the Ivory Coast and hosts Namibia.

    The top three sides at the 2014 AWC, which gets under way in October, will represent Africa at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

  • CONTEMPT OF COURT THREAT: NFF can’t confirm receipt of court injunction

    CONTEMPT OF COURT THREAT: NFF can’t confirm receipt of court injunction

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) General Secretary Musa Amadu has told NationSport in Abuja that he is currently on leave in America and cannot confirm that the secretariat was served a court order prohibiting Saturday’s NFF Congress which held in Warri.

    On Friday, a Federal High Court in Jos issued an injunction ordering the FIFA-recognised Aminu Maigari-led NFF not to hold the congress on Saturday, September 20 in Warri, as directed by FIFA.

    The injunction, obtained by two members of the Chris Giwa-led faction of the NFF, directed that the Maigari faction should be served through the electronic and print media.

    Nevertheless, the Congress went ahead and approved September 30 as the date for a new election into the board of the federation.

    Principal officers of the NFF as well as delegates to the Congress of Saturday have now been threatened with contempt charges.

    “I cannot confirm to you now if the letters have been received at the secretariat of the NFF,” Amadu said. “I am on my annual leave and currently in the United States with my family.

    “They may have served them the letter, but it is only those at the secretariat that can confirm this.”

    When NationSport visited the NFF secretariat on Wednesday, none of its principal officers were available to confirm the receipt of the document.

    However, the form 48 from the Jos High Court was seen posted on the wall near the entrance door of the secretariat, although NationSport could not confirm that the document was received by any of the secretariat staff.

  • I didn’t give NFF deadline on Eagles’ job – Keshi

    I didn’t give NFF deadline on Eagles’ job – Keshi

    Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has denied reports that he handed a September 30 deadline to the Nigeria Football Federation to prolong his contract, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

    The former Togo national team coach has been a free agent since his contract expired at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

    But he was persuaded by the Sports Minister, Tamuno Danagogo, to take charge of the Super Eagles first two African Nations Cup qualifiers against Congo and South Africa earlier this month.

    “I never gave the NFF any deadline. I don’t know where that comment is coming from. I never said anything like that; I never discussed anything like that with anybody and I am surprised to hear this.

    “Somebody first told me this and you are the second person, but there is no such thing,” allnigeriasoccer.com quoted Keshi as saying to journalists on Wednesday.