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Tag: nff

  • Odegbami, Ogunjobi calm over NFF disqualification

    Odegbami, Ogunjobi calm over NFF disqualification

    Former Nigeria international, Segun Odegbami has spoken about his disqualification ahead of the upcoming elections into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    Odegbami was disqualified on Wednesday for failing to meet three of the pre-election requirements.

    Chairman of the NFF’s electoral committee, Amoni Biambo, said Odegbami has been stopped from contesting the polls because he did not attach a receipt to his nomination form.

    Biambo also added that no endorsement (letter) from Odegbami’s zone was attached to the nomination form which he was also accused of handing in late. Odegbami said he was surprised at the development.

    “I can tell you that these things (Biambo said) are not true. He is lying,” Odegbami told supersport.com.

    Odegbami said the situation would become clearer in the coming days.

    “So many things are happening right now and I will speak about this more comprehensively in the coming days. Just watch and see what will happen in the next few days,” he said.

    Former NFF secretary general, Taiwo Ogunjobi, was also disqualified from running for the office of president of the football federation.

    Ogunjobi says he is not losing sleep over the development. “I won’t comment on my disqualification now but anyone who thinks I am unhappy does not know me. As long as God remains in control, we should all be happy. When anyone wakes up in the morning and he can eat, talk and go about his daily activities, he should be happy. I am always a happy man,” he said.

  • FIFA return Maigari as NFF boss

    FIFA return Maigari as NFF boss

    World football governing body FIFA have ordered Aminu Maigari back to office as president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    The NFF executive committee had last month purportedly impeached Maigari.

    But in a letter dated August 14 to NFF general secretary Musa Amadu and signed by Markus Kattner, FIFA deputy secretary general, FIFA clearly stated: “The executive committee of the NFF shall also be reunified as it was before the 2014 World Cup.”

  • FIFA sets to rule on Maigari’s impeachment

    FIFA sets to rule on Maigari’s impeachment

    World football governing body FIFA will give its verdict this week on the impeachment of Nigeria Football Federation president, Aminu Maigari.

    AfricanFootball.com gathered that FIFA members will base their decision on the reply NFF forwarded  to the body on Maigari’s impeachment.

    “FIFA will decide on the purported sack of Maigari before the end of this week,” a source informed AfricanFootball.com

    FIFA had last week demanded a full explanation on Maigari’s impeachment by the NFF executive committee.

    Maigari was reportedly sacked by his executive committee members on July 24.

    FIFA in a letter to NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu and signed by Deputy Secretary General, Markus Kattner, demanded a more detailed explanation of events leading to Maigari’s sack.

    They asked for the agenda of the executive committee meeting that sacked Maigari, the conditions for the amendment of the agenda and whether the president was given the chance to defend himself formally.

     

  • NFF insists on 5m for Keshi

    NFF insists on 5m for Keshi

    • Won’t pay what it can’t afford
    • Hopeful Big Boss will hit Nigeria this week

    Chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have vowed not to add a dime to the N5million being paid to Super Eagles chief coach Stephen Keshi when both parties meet on the contractual renewal table soon.

    SportingLife scooped from those who should know at the Glasshouse on Monday morning that the NFF is not willing to accept any increase in the earlier stipends given to the coach with one of those to discuss wit the Big Boss stating that: “The N7million and N10 million salary terms is only in the media. They can sell their newspapers with it. I want to tell you that we are prepared to pay Keshi N5 million because that is what we can easily pay. Any increase will be counter-productive.

    “We are hopeful though that Keshi would accept the N5million salary but the talk of N7 million or N10 milion is far-fetched. Hopefuly, Keshi should be in Nigeria this week for us to decide on the final details of his contract which could be for another four years. It depends on what we agree with him.

    “We don’t have any fears about our preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Rwanda on September 6 in Calabar. Keshi has told us that he has being talking with those he has in mind for the game. It is a technical issue and we trust Keshi to deliver the qualification ticket like he has always done since he took up the appointment as Super Eagles chief coach.”

  • 2014 FEDERATION CUP FINAL: NFF, LAGOS YET TO FIX A DATE

    2014 FEDERATION CUP FINAL: NFF, LAGOS YET TO FIX A DATE

    A TOP official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has disclosed that the August 16 date fixed for the final of the 2014 Federation Cup is no longer feasible as host of the final, the Lagos State Government, is yet to confirm its approval of that date.

    Dolphins and Enyimba will jostle for the Federation Cup trophy after overcoming their semi final foes on July 24 in Abuja and Abeokuta respectively.

    The ‘Pride of Port Harcourt’ stung Prime FC 1-0 while Enyimba pipped Giwa FC by the same scoreline to set up an exciting grand finale.

    A top source in the ‘Glass House’ told SportingLife that the NFF was in discussions with the Lagos State Government about hosting the Federation Cup final. The programme for the final will be made public at the end of the talks.

    “We are still in discussions with the Lagos State Government and it is until this is sorted out that we can talk about getting a date for the final,” the source told SportingLife.

  • NFF replies FIFA

    NFF replies FIFA

    The board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have responded by means of writing to World Football Governing body, FIFA demands on the process that led to the impeachment of Alhaji Aminu Maigari as president of the apex soccer body in Nigeria.

    SL10 reliably gathered from a source at the Glass House that FIFA replied two days ago.

    “It was a normal letter seeking to know if Maigari’s impeachment was contained in the agenda of the meeting that lead to his removal,” he told SL10.

    “We replied and told them yes it was part of our agenda as we were doing a review of the 2014 World Cup, I wouldn’t say he was impeached rather Maigari’s case was one of provisional dismissal as he couldn’t account for monies due to the federation.

    “He couldn’t provide explanation on how the 800 million naira released by the Nigeria government was used prior and during the World Cup, he also failed to give account of the 1.5 million dollars FIFA gave the NFF for World Cup preparation.

    “In a nutshell what they wanted to know was if his dismissal was part of the agenda of the meeting, and we made them know that the vote of no confidence passed on Maigari was reached during our meeting to review the World Cup and you can’t do that without taking stock of money that came in and how they were spent.”

    SL10 can also reveal that the NFF is yet to get a response from FIFA as at writing this report over the planned August 26 congress of the football house.

    “We are yet to get a reply from FIFA, if we don’t get it in due time then it might be postponed because they have to be present at the Congress to witness it conduct in line with the statues and guidelines of FIFA,” the source added.

  • NFF CRISIS: Gombe blames Sports Minister

    NFF CRISIS: Gombe blames Sports Minister

    Former chairman of the Gombe state football association, Shuaibu Ahmed Gara-Gombe has accused Nigeria’s sports minister, Tammy Danagogo of fuelling the crisis currently eating up the leadership of Nigerian football.

    The fiery sport critic and administrator has told SL10 that all the issues currently bedevilling the country’s football, and all the blame should be forwarded to the doorsteps of the minister.

    “I will tell you that the minister deserves the entire blame, as he has been the one behind these issues. He has been the architect of the whole thing but unfortunately, the problems have grown beyond him now and he seems to lack the capacity to manage it,” Gombe said.

    “He has over 30 sports federations under him, how come football takes his whole time? And now it’s obvious that he cannot even manage any of football’s problems in the country. The reasons why he has towed this path are that he is inexperienced and has bad advisers, and he also failed to sit with people who have the experience with the politics of sports management in Nigeria.”

    Gombe has been an open critic of Danagogo, since the inception of the NFF crisis and has never hidden his opinion about the issues. And he believes the minister has made mistakes because he hasn’t taken his time to study the laws governing the game in Nigeria and the world at large.

    “I don’t think he has studied the laws governing the NFF and FIFA statutes and for me, that is where his mistakes started from,” he said.

    Meanwhile, senior special assistant to the minister on media, Patrick Omorodion has replied the accusations, saying Gombe has got nothing meaningful to say.

    “I don’t even like joining issues with him (Gombe); he obviously has nothing to say. He has been talking and claims to be a saint, but he should come and tell us what happened to him in Kano and why he was sacked.

    “He keeps talking and talking but why was he sacked from the Kano State government, if he is a saint like he claims,” Omorodion told Hot FM.

  • NFF elections to be moved?

    NFF elections to be moved?

    The crisis and confusion surrounding the forthcoming elections into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) look set to continue as SL10 have been reliably informed that the elections, scheduled for August 26, might be moved by a month.

    Also, there are strong indications that the electoral committee as headed by Amoni Biambo, might be dissolved, with a new committee inaugurated.

    The election process has been dogged by series of complaints from intending aspirants, most of whom have found it difficult to purchase election forms, while some who purchased have found it difficult to submit their filled out forms.

    And given these developments, sources have informed SL10 that the elections might be moved forward by one month and the electoral committee dissolved.

    “We understand the elections might be postponed for a month, and the electoral committee dissolved. It has been a mess, the whole process and we could be having the elections in September instead,” a source said.

    Some members of the NFF executive committee met with sports minister, Tammy Danagogo on Wednesday, as the crisis threatened to boil over and it is still unclear what was discussed in the meeting, but it is believed that the intervention of the minister is now being sought.

  • NFF chiefs Green, Yusuf Ahmed unbanned

    NFF chiefs Green, Yusuf Ahmed unbanned

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials, Chris Green and Yusuf Ahmed, have had their suspension lifted by the NFF appeals committee.

    Both officials were suspended by the NFF executive committee on Thursday for “anti-board activities” among other charges, but on Friday, the appeals committee headed by Eddy Mark upheld their appeals.

    “The appellants having made out a good case to nullify and reverse the decision of the executive committee, the aforementioned decision is hereby set aside and the appellants are free to resume their place and duties as executive members of the Nigeria Football Federation board,” stated the appeals committee,

    The appeals committee said the suspension of the excos was not on the agenda, the officials were not given formal notice of their offences and there was a serious breach of the appellants’ right to fair hearing.

    The committee further disposed that only six executive committee members sat to take the decision to suspend their colleagues when Article 36(1) of the NFF statutes clearly stipulated that it required a minimum of eight members to take such a decision.

    The committee also berated the executive committee for violating the NFF statutes.

    “This (violation) portends grave danger for the administration of football in Nigeria,” said the appeals committee.

    “Let us avoid those things that will portray our country in bad light and as a people that are incapable of managing our affairs for good. The world community of football is watching us.”

  • NFF dismisses Eddy Mark’s ‘decision’

    NFF dismisses Eddy Mark’s ‘decision’

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has stated that its Appeals Committee is yet to meet over appeals by former Executive Committee members, Barrister Chris Green and Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf ‘Fresh’.

    Green and Ahmed ‘Fresh’ were suspended from the NFF Executive Committee and banned from football –related activities for different periods on Thursday. The former Chairman of Technical Committee was slammed a six –month ban for glaring anti-Board activities and uncharitable media interviews, while ‘Fresh’ got a one –year ban for anti-Board activities and forging a document to alter the decision of the Executive Committee on Management Staff.

    Nigeria football spokesman Ademola Olajire said on Friday: “This clarification is necessary in view of a report being circulated that the Appeals Committee has upturned the decision of the Executive Committee on these persons. It is true that Barr. Green and Alh.Ahmed Yusuf have appealed their suspension from the Executive Committee and ban from football –related activities for different periods. But the letters of Appeal only came in on Thursday night.

    “A decision purporting to have been handed down by the Chairman of the Appeals’ Committee (Eddy Mark) was received Friday morning in the NFF. The so-called decision did not state how many of the Committee members were present, or whether the Secretary was also there.

    “Whenever the Committee will meet, its meeting will be at the NFF Secretariat as it has always been, and all parties to the appeal, including the NFF Executive Committee and the appellants, will be available to present their case. The date of the meeting and time will also be made public.

    “It is a known fact that the Chairman of the Appeals Committee is a personal friend of one of the appelants. But Nigeria football is not the private business of any individual.

    “The decision still stands and will be conveyed to the next General Assembly for ratification.”