Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief last week as the sus­pension clamped on the country by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) was lifted. The world football governing body had, two weeks ago, suspended and threatened to ban Nigeria from all international soccer activities because of government’s interference in the control and man­agement of football affairs in the country. The suspension followed the sack of the board of the Nige­ria Football Federation (NFF) led by Aminu Maigari on July 5, by the NFF Extra-Ordinary Congress, following an order of a High Court in Jos, Pla­teau State, presided over by Justice P.L. Lot. The suit in question was instituted by Mrs Ebiakpo Rumson-Baribote, wife of the former second vice president of the NFF.
FIFA considered the actions that led to the sack of the Maigari-led NFF board as government interfer­ence in football affairs and an infrac­tion of its statutes, especially Article 13, paragraph 1 and article 17, para­graph 1. The lifting of the suspen­sion followed the reinstatement of the Maigari-led board after the High Court in Jos vacated its earlier inter­locutory injunction.
FIFA had given July 17 as deadline to restore the Maigari-led board to office, with a threat of an outright ban from all international football activities. In lifting the suspension, the organisation said it was satisfied that Nigeria had met all the condi­tions stipulated.
It is heartening that Nigeria has escaped FIFA’s hammer. This has paved the way for Nigeria’s female team, the Falconets, to participate in the FIFA Female World Cup coming up in Canada next month, while our Golden Eaglets can also take part in the African qualifier for the World Under-17 Championship against DR Congo later this month.
We hope that Nigeria’s football ad­ministrators, comprising the NFF and the Ministry of Sports, as well as the Federal Government, have learned the necessary lessons to avoid a re­peat of this embarrassing situation and the risk of future sanctions by FIFA. This is not the first time that Nigeria has been hit by FIFA. In 2010, the Federation temporarily banned Nigeria from its competitions after President Goodluck Jonathan threat­ened to disband the senior national team, the Super Eagles, in the af­termath of the team’s woeful per­formance at the World Cup in South Africa.
Also in 2004, FIFA lost patience with Nigeria over Decree 101 which empowers the Federal Government to appoint the Chief Executive of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) as well as majority of the members of the NFA board. This runs against FIFA’s rules that demand full democ­ratisation of football administration. The ban subsisted until the obnox­ious Decree 101 was repealed by the National Assembly late in 2004.
There is no doubt at all that football administration in Nigeria is not what it ought to be. It is largely a stable of corruption that needs urgent cleans­ing. This is why the Maigari-led NFF board was queried by the Sports Min­ister, Tammy Danagogo, and asked to account for the grants from govern­ment as well as sponsorship receipts and appearance revenue during the recent World Cup in Brazil.
However, Nigeria, as a member of FIFA, has to submit itself to the rules of the organisation. Our football ad­ministrators have to accept the fact that interference in football affairs, no matter how expedient, is inex­cusable and violates relevant FIFA rules and regulations to which they have subscribed. We believe govern­ment acted in haste when it sacked the NFF board. It should have waited until the NFF election on August 26 to cause a change of guards at the organisation. Such needless actions that cannot be sustained in the face of FIFA sanctions should be avoided in future.
All in all, while we appreciate the Federal Government’s bid to ensure accountability in the management of resources deployed for the promo­tion of sports in the country, it should be able to draw the line between the protection of Nigeria’s interest and outright non-compliance with FIFA rules. Let us do everything that is necessary to avoid suspension from FIFA competitions in the best inter­est of our footballers.

 

Lessons from FIFA’s suspension of Nigeria