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The almost chaotic scenes at the final match of the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations in Morocco in January this year should have prepared the minds of football lovers for the man-made orchestrations in this year’s FIFA World Cup that nearly brought the beautiful game of football to disrepute. Never has there been so much deep-seated sour taste in the mouth in any edition of the global showpiece as the 2026 edition hosted by Mexico/United States/Canada.

Admittedly, one must salute the high level of football artistry on display by the 48 participating countries, including the quality of a few any football fans might have hitherto dismissed with a wave of the hands. The politics, manipulations, and glaring inactions by Gianni Infantino’s FIFA and a few ego-filled teams point to a dangerous dimension that portends serious danger to the health of the beautiful game.

In his 10th year in charge of FIFA, Infantino is clearly on a descent, and towards an unplanned exit that may save the Italian from drowning himself in shame.

Never has a FIFA president demonstrated his readiness to be manipulated by the powerful regardless of the risk of such a move. This man has strangely and obviously demonstrated his preference for certain teams over others. Only Infantino would be able to explain why he was able to threaten fire and brimstone after the drama at the AFCON final in Rabat between eventual champion, Senegal, and hosts Morocco, but curiously became blind after the embarrassment football was subjected to by ‘FIFA-anointed team’, Argentina, who deservedly lost the final match to European champions, Spain, penultimate Sunday.

Don’t miss the point: I love football, having played the round-leather game to my God-given capacity; I only show my partisanship when the Super Eagles played well and lost, not the lame and duck displays the national team put up when struggling to qualify for the just-concluded competition. Interestingly, Nigeria still managed to win some ‘trophies’ at the World Cup in which it did not participate. You know the ‘unnamed trophies’ more than I do. So, you don’t need my help to list them.

Up until this moment, I still do not understand what Argentina deserved at the end of the final whistle of the 2026 World Cup with the level of football they played against Spain in the final. I won’t take away the respect the Argentines deserved, going through the group stages; through the knockout matches (especially with the help of malleable referees), and landing at the final while fighting to retain the crown they won four years ago in Doha, Qatar.

With the benefit of hindsight, one is tempted to submit that the quality of the La Albiceleste at the 2026 World Cup was below the quality of the squad that won the cup in Qatar, where they lost their opening match 1-2 to Saudi Arabia.


In 2026, some remote arrangements, however, ensured that despite a few lapses, the Argentines progressed seamlessly into the knockout stages, where they suddenly realised they were the ‘FIFA hot favourites’ for the ultimate prize, signposted by unexplainable favourable and strange decisions. The marketing prospects of keeping the South Americans in the competition obviously overshadowed all considerations in FIFA’s calculations and deliberate inactions.

As in all facets of human life, there are certain gaps that wouldn’t be covered forever by man-made arrangements. Despite tolerating the customary excesses of the Argentines in the first half, Slovenian Slavko Vincic stamped his authority, which resulted in the sending off of the usually pompous Enzo Fernandez and the eventual capitulation of the La Albiceleste.

The deserved defeat of the Argentines in the one-sided match against Spain is not my interest in this piece, by the way. It is the disgraceful attitude of the losers and the criminal silence of the Infantino-led FIFA since the embarrassing episode of the aftermath of the World Cup final match penultimate Sunday.

Anti-apartheid icon and former South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela, once said, “Sports can create hope, where there was once only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.” By the way, this particular statement might have been erased even in South Africa itself by narrow-minded nincompoops masquerading as leaders in the nation’s current setup.

A former US diplomat and civil rights leader, Andrew Young, while supporting some of the good attributes of sports, said, “I’ve always seen the Olympics as a place where you could act out your differences on the athletic field with a sense of sportsmanship and fairness and mutual respect,” the latter part being the anchor of the statement. Also, a former US President, Theodore Roosevelt, examined the good and bad sides of sports prowess. “Character counts for a great deal more than either intellect or body in winning success in life. Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master,” he stated.

By Ademola Oni

In sports especially, which help to unite people of all races (at least, so it seems) more than most governmental structures in the world today, there will always be songs of victory and the lamentation of defeat. Essentially, what separates the two is the mood and the maturity the parties bring to it.

A line in ‘Beast of No Nation’, one of the iconic masterpieces of Abami Eda, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, kept popping up as I was battling to keep Long Range in check. This line simply says “This uprising will bring out the beast in us.” Fela was not the originator of this line, by the way.


PW Botha, one of the apartheid leaders in South Africa, had made this unguarded statement to belittle the uprising, protests and physical violence against apartheid rule in South Africa in the mid-80s. Pitiably, illiterate, ignorant and ungrateful black South Africans have turned on other blacks in the former apartheid enclave, killing some, looting their property, shutting down their businesses and telling them to go ‘beck’ to their countries.

It is basically impossible for the hands of the clock to go back many years. This current generation of South Africans, including their pretentious leaders, shouldn’t have been part of the package of freedom, if you ask me, but thank you for not asking.

Let’s go back to the World Cup. At the penultimate tournament in Qatar, after the Kylian Mbappe-inspired France lost the FIFA World Cup final to Argentina, French President Emanuel Macron personally embraced the players, encouraging them to be proud of their outstanding display. The players and officials didn’t bring down the stadium, nor did they turn the presentation ceremonies into a showpiece of crass moral ineptitude like our South American ‘superstars’ exhibited in New Jersey.

I’m not a mind reader, but I’m sure something else was going through the minds of the Argentine players and officials at the end of the match in New Jersey on July 19 that so many people didn’t see. Like Spain crippled the machinery of Mbappe-led France attack in the semi-finals, the European champions equally shut down the Lionel Messi troops in a more spectacular fashion in the final. The South Americans did not register a single shot on goal throughout the 120 minutes of football action. Even our dear Super Eagles, on their day, would have done better.

So then, can someone explain to me why the Argentines decided to bring out the beast in them on this occasion? Why would national team players throw decorum to the wind, preferring the mentality of beasts? Would punching the Spaniards assuage the pain of the defeat on the night? The Argentines were, however, lucky that a player like Sergio Ramos was not in the Spain squad on the day. Cape Verde, Egypt and England partly lost to the Argentines, not because of superior football mastery but to the obvious conspiratorial machinations of Infantino and FIFA, a very dangerous trend.

The Argentines didn’t start their shenanigans in the final. After their 2-1 victory over England in the semi-finals, the still embittered South Americans decided to mock England for losing the Falkland Islands to the Europeans after their defeat in the 74-day battle in 1982. The question is, why on the field of play? Were they reprimanded?

How does one categorise the role of Infantino’s FIFA in the excesses of the Argentines at the World Cup? At the end of the AFCON final in Rabat and the drama that attended the match in January, the FIFA president started spitting fire, culminating in the purported stripping of the Senegalese of their well-deserved AFCON title.


More than a week after the Argentines’ show of shame in New Jersey, Infantino has not found his voice in roundly condemning the South Americans for bringing the beautiful game to global disrepute. Who is this man trying to please?

It is clearly a crime against humanity for a team to believe that through sheer manipulation, the trophy of the FIFA World Cup could be handed over to it no matter how poorly it played. In this case, Argentina (and by extension, Infantino) lost the World Cup on the field of play, deservedly so, and outside the field, the respect of the global football family by bringing out the beast in them.

Cape Verde goalkeeper Josimar Dias, widely known as Vozinha, is set to join Chilean football powerhouse Colo Colo after his remarkable performances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The 40-year-old veteran emerged as one of the tournament’s surprise stars, delivering a series of impressive displays against eventual champions Spain and defending champions Argentina.

While the transfer has not yet been officially completed, Colo Colo hinted at the move on Friday by sharing an image believed to feature Vozinha’s trademark curly hair.

“Bienvenido. Welcome. Bem-vindo. We look forward to seeing you at the Monumental Stadium,” the club posted on its social media platforms, sparking excitement among supporters and Chilean football fans.

Chile, meanwhile, missed out on qualification for a third consecutive FIFA World Cup, making the arrival of an international star of Vozinha’s profile even more significant for local fans.

Reuters reported that Aníbal Mosa, president of Blanco y Negro — the company that manages Colo Colo — confirmed the goalkeeper would travel to Chile in the coming days to complete the move.

“Vozinha is going to be a Colo Colo player. In the next few days, he will travel to Chile, undergo the necessary medical examinations, and then be presented here at the Estadio Monumental,” Mosa said.

The club president praised Vozinha’s World Cup performances, noting that his displays earned him the opportunity to join Colo Colo while also providing the club with additional commercial value.

Vozinha joined the World Cup after leaving Portuguese second-tier club Chaves and quickly became a global name. He was selected by fans for FIFA’s World Cup Dream Team after helping tournament debutants Cape Verde secure a goalless draw against Spain and take Argentina into extra time in the Round of 32.

The experienced goalkeeper captained Cape Verde during their historic first World Cup appearance before the African side were eliminated by Argentina in a dramatic 3–2 extra-time defeat.

His performances also brought him worldwide attention off the pitch, with his social media following reportedly growing from fewer than 50,000 followers before the tournament to nearly 29 million

LeBron James has made what he says will be the final decision of his NBA career, signing a two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers after giving serious thought to retirement.

The 41-year-old announced Friday that he still has the passion to compete and believes he has one more championship run left. The deal, which includes a player option, marks a significant pay cut from the nearly $53 million he earned with the Los Angeles Lakers last season.

In a series of posts on X, James reflected on the uncertainty surrounding his future following the 2025-26 season.

"I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and decide if I still love this game," he wrote.

After taking time to evaluate his future, James said he realized he wasn't ready to walk away.

"I still truly love this game, and I have more to give."

James said his decision to join Philadelphia was driven by one goal: competing for another NBA championship. The 76ers become the fourth franchise of his career as he pursues a fifth title while hoping to help end the team's 43-year championship drought.

Calling it the last free-agency decision of his career, James made it clear that his motivation extends far beyond money.

"This is my last decision. I'm not going for money. I'm not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point?" James wrote. "I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship."

James added that he believes he can help make the 76ers a championship contender and is excited to begin one final chapter with a new team and fan base as he enters a record-breaking 24th NBA season.

The wealth of a nation is determined by the collective wealth of all its citizens, but what if the citizens got no wealth and this writer says, the nation is bankrupt and must start afresh as it was after the World Wars decades past. Sports in Nigeria is bankrupt and virtually non-existent except perhaps football. Athletics is comatose where university graduates and aged men and women are paraded as youth while the seniors are recruited aged-foreign mediocre druggists that has no semblance of connection to Nigeria. The stadiums are in deplorable conditions (National Stadium Surulere, Lagos and Obafemi Awolowo Stadium Ibadan insults common sense considering yearly recurring expenditures budgeted for them - at least over N20Billion in the past 4years). This is absurd, moral bankruptcy and insult to the citizens of Nigeria and MUST STOP. General Muhammadu Buhari are you listening?

 Current Events

Football

Power tussle in the football federation and lame-duck de facto Sports Minister Danagogo has settled down. To remind those who didn’t follow such issue, Mr. Danagogo ordered the football federation to hire Stephen Keshi or any top UEFA Coach. Although, Mr. Keshi enjoys President Jonathan support, but this event is simply outrageous and that has nothing to do with Mr. Keshi or Mr. President personally, but professionally speaking, the football federation appears to be full of ‘yes sir’ individuals that lacks courage. Although, this submission is contrary to highly esteemed credentials earned by those federation scribes and one can only conclude that unknown reasons exist that prevented these individuals from courageous act like its secretary general did by walking-off the job recently.

Quite frankly, Mr. Keshi should bow out quietly now (contract or no-contract) and that is based on observation of the team when he handled it and even now because quality expected are those being showcased by Siasia U-23 team. This writer doubts if any team presented by Keshi can defeat Siasia’s current team. Furthermore, the open door policy enjoyed by Keshi with President Jonathan is now a thing of the past and the scrutiny he is going to face will be severe from Nigerians.

 Athletics

On the athletics front, that federation is still wallowing in misery and the National Sports Commission (NSC) never at any time show interest on any development concerning that sport. Mr. Danagogo did a good thing by supervising the football federation whereas he simply ignored Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) even when Nigeria’s passports were fraudulently issued to non-Nigerians who failed woefully at the Commonwealth Games. Some Nigerians claimed he discriminated against the North with his action in respect of football and aided AFN atrocities, wherever the truth lies Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi did the same thing even changing the National Sports Festival format because of Governor Uduaghan (Delta governor) request. The fact, is both Sports Ministers (current or former) were wrong not to have universal rule.

Nigeria is presenting a team for the African Youth competition in Mauritius soon before the All African Games and age falsification is on the agenda for the youth games and for the senior’s team, Solomon Ogba vowed to present aged-illegal-bought-druggists as Nigeria’s team and the question the incoming regime is ARE YOU GOING TO ALLOW THIS OR JAIL THESE PEOPLE?

A cow is said to regurgitate its meal (contaminated or not) and human beings will show signs of discomfort whenever a contaminated meal is ingested and can either vomit or purging such meal. By analogy to Nigeria sports, the country had gone through over 16years of regurgitating or rather recycling of people of no-good intention towards the country and it is time to vomit or purge every individual that were part of the system of sports mediocrity or nuisance. Recovery of all funds meant for stadium upgrade must commence and athletes’ development cannot no longer be exclusively contracted out to sport federations. The culture of epileptic sports policy must be purged, now. Change, the country demand.

 I rest for now.                                                                                      

Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)

A cat’s sense of intelligence cannot be compared with that a dog (trained or untrained) but once a soldier always a soldier. It will take a high sense of intellect to connect the dots on the above sentence, but it is not insulting, but a statement of fact as this writer sees it. This writing is simply a discussion on the positive effect of March 28, 2015 Presidential election in respect of sports.

Preliminary Commentaries

Few former athletes drew their lines in the sand supporting the country’s beloved President Goodluck Jonathan while current athletes are scared silly to utter a word publicly, but they made statements on social media in support of the opposition party federal candidates, but those statements cannot be positively linked to them and then came Blessing Okagbare shouting at the incumbent President’s media campaign people for using her image despite unprecedented accolades beyond counts (money or otherwise) that President Jonathan bestowed on her. Of course, she is entitled to speak freely, but wrongly advised by her handlers even after her attempted damage control and this writer appeals to the citizens of Nigeria to simply understand that she is young and growing.  And to J.J. Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Henry Amike and a few others, this writer truly wish you well between now and 2019 but the hope is that you would have learnt a strong lesson about politics. It must be noted that, an appearance of certain individuals on behalf of the political gladiators might be the game changer in a certain socialistic economic environment and to zero-in on such phenomenon is worth more than a pat on the back. Of course, this is the view of this writer on the emergence of Rtd. General Muhammadu Buhari as the President-Elect of Nigeria. It is highly doubtful to think the game changer sought at the helm of power in Nigeria is that of expired athletes that were remembered only in athletic historian circles.

Positive Effect on Sports

Current athletes by consensus view wants change to everything concerning sports and of course the President-Elect ran his political campaign on change in respect of governance in the country. He noted that high priority will be placed on Procurement Act of the federation. And course the readers of this writer can recall the acrimony by his brother named Bolaji Abdullahi, the former Sports Minister, that he (this writer) should produce the law (he referred to) in one of his writings concerning the misstep in the hiring of an American firm after disgraceful outings during the London Olympics Games. In fact, Mr. Abdullahi later hired two Saudi Arabia’s dumped American Coaches without any semblance of compliance with due process or Procurement Act. In addition, the former Sports Minister jettisoned the country’s heavily invested drug laboratory for the so-called high performance center ran by the two individuals hired without due process. Those individuals never produce a single athlete till date and for these events Mr. Abdullahi must not be considered to head sports again.

Recently, Mr. Abdullahi, said that the President-Elect has no business in meddling with sports and this writer can say clearly that his beloved brother (Mr. Abdullahi) was never appointed by All Progressive Congress (APC) or Rtd. General Muhammadu Buhari to speak on his behalf nor his comments should be acted upon. It is hypocritical to Nigerians that Mr. Abdullahi that ignored the Federal Procurement Act while a Minister under President Jonathan should be seen with the President-Elect that announced that his number one priority is compliance with the Procurement Act and zero-tolerance on corruption.

One thing is clear and that is the incoming administration will conduct super-background checks on any political appointee because to do otherwise is tantamount to the return to status quo and will likely result in voter backlash come 2019. Furthermore, the benefit of a doubt goes to the incoming federal government executive branch, in the sense that current sport’s administrators are fearful of bad and corrupt behaviors knowing fully well that crime does not have an expiration date. Essentially, whether or not the accused committed the act during Rtd. General Obasanjo regime or the current President regime, it matters not and for that reason, the athletes and non-athletes must rejoice that past intimidation and corrupt practices will be dealt with and the fear of such penalty means, those few offending individuals (among NSC staff or federations) will shape up quickly. Hopefully, the goodness in the majority of them will become the norm and that is the positive impact of Rtd. General Muhammadu Buhari even before taking the helm of power.

Status of Sports

Nothing really, to cry or rejoice about at the present time in respect of sports in Nigeria, but it is worthy of note that the era of violating the constitution of Nigeria by certain sports federations like athletics will meet serious challenges with the incoming Attorney General and Minister of Interior as well as the National security adviser. As regards to the Olympics, other than Mr. Siasia Eagles team and Blessing Okagbare, the country’s chances are very slim and that has everything to do with the reliance on useless agenda of poaching expired aged druggists from USA to represent Nigeria. Athletics Federation of Nigeria must be probed for illicit acts of facilitating issuance of Nigeria’s passports to non-Nigerians and for all monies received from the National Sports Commission (NSC) for the purposes of procuring such foreign athletes.

All in all, the incoming administration must embark on sanitizing the NSC, including its directors and all those hired without due process.

I rest for now.                                                                                      

Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)

After the exit of all the English Premiere League representatives -- Chelsea FC,  Manchester City and Arsenal FC -- from the UEFA Champions League at the round of 16 on Wednesday, the stage is now set for the remaining teams to move on to the quarter finals.

The draws for the quarter final fixtures took place  in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday, ahead of actions in the game which will commence on 14th April.

Spanish league, La Liga is dominating with representatives at the moment, with three of its strongest teams -- Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid -- still in the run.

Others remaining in the run are, Saint-Germain, Juventus, Monaco and Bayern Munich.

Below is the draw for actions to commence on 14th April:

 Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona

  • Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid
  • FC Porto vs. Bayern Munich
  • Juventus vs. AS Monaco

 

For fear of being attacked by Boko Haram, El Verde,  the national team of Bolivia have cancelled their friendly match with Nigeria, previously scheduled for 26th March in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

"Armed conflict and the tense political situation in Nigeria forced our withdrawal," said President of the Bolivian Football Federation, Carlos Chavez.

Commenting on the cancellation, the authorities in Nigeria  said they were shocked  by the decision, because they had already put everything in place to ensure a hitch-free game.

The game had been publicised as one in which Nigeria's Captain and goalkeeper Vinent Enyeama would have earned his 100th cap for the country.

The 32-year-old had been named in the 28-man squad selected by Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi.

The withdrawal of the El Verde means that Enyeama would have to wait until Nigeria's friendly against South Africa on 29th March before earning his landmark 100th cap.

Other players named in the squad against Bolivia include, Brown Ideye, Anthony Ujah, Aalesund defender, Akeem Latifu; Watford striker, Odion Ighalo and Belgian club Gent Moses Simon.  

Ikechukwu Uche and Aaron Samuel both scored to keep Nigeria's hopes of Africa Cup of Nations qualification alive in a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Congo on Saturday.

A tight first half yielded few clear-cut chances, but the visitors made the breakthrough just before the hour mark when Emmanuel Emenike was brought down inside the box and Uche kept his cool from the spot.

Thievy Bifouma missed a penalty for the hosts five minutes later and Samuel wrapped up the points with a tidy finish in the last minute, with angry home fans causing a slight delay when they threw missiles onto the pitch.

The result moves Nigeria into second place, with goal difference pushing them ahead of Congo heading into the final round of games in Group A.

Congo started brightly and saw Bifouma spurn two presentable chances inside the opening 10 minutes, while Fode Dore also skewed wide when well placed seven minutes before half-time.

The visitors suffered an early blow after the interval when Hope Akpan went off injured, but they broke the deadlock soon after.

Chancel Massa fouled Emenike in the box and Uche beat the goalkeeper with a low finish into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards.

Congo were given a chance to level the scores with a penalty of their own after Godfrey Oboabona was adjudged to have handled a Prince Oniangue shot.

Bifouma stepped up to take the kick, but Vincent Enyeama guessed correctly and pushed the striker's effort away to ensure Nigeria's lead remained intact.

After Uche had wasted two chances to double Nigeria's lead, the hosts saw efforts from Francis N'Ganga and Delvin Ndinga go close, the latter denied by a great save from Enyeama

A swift counter-attack following that save saw Nigeria secure their victory, substitute Samuel curling a left-footed effort beyond Massa to give Keshi a winning return.

Shuaibu Amodu, who was recently brought in by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to take over the coaching job of the Super Eagles, has asked NFF to allow Stephen Keshi to continue with his job.

Amodu made the position known in a letter dated 27th October. He entreated the NFF president Amaju Pinnik to allow Keshi to handle the team’s remaining matches in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, against Congo on 15th November and South Africa on 19th November.

Amodu said one of the reasons for making the call for Keshi’s reinstatement is that the time-frame given to him is too short to tinker with the fabric of the squad or start to build a new one altogether.

Amadu who was named Keshi’s interim successor two weeks ago, said his decision was after wide consultations, carefully made since the appointment was announced.

“I want to specially appeal to you to reconsider the matter and allow Keshi to finish the project that he has started — the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying race,” the letter read in part.

“My opinion also is that the time-frame is too short to start tinkering with the fabric of the team or attempt to build a new team altogether.”

Amodu expressed willingness to help build a better relationship between Keshi, the players and the NFF Technical Committee, saying he would achieve this without stress because he had enjoyed good working relationship with Keshi in the past and the relationship remains cordial.

 “I am assuring that I will offer whatever assistance is required by Keshi and his crew for the remaining two matches, and also be there to offer advice, suggestions and efforts towards building a stronger Super Eagles after the qualifying race,’’ the letter continued.

Nigeria will be at Pointe Noire, Congo Brazzaville on 15th November to play the Congolese, before taking on South Africa in Uyo, Akwaibom State four days after the Congo clash.

The Eagles Need a comprehensive win in both matches to guarantee them qualification into the 2015 AFCON championship.

 

The world football governing body, FIFA has sent a letter to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirming that it will be suspended with immediate effect if there are still persons claiming to have been elected to NFF positions on 26th August 2014 and occupying their offices on Monday, 8th September 2014.

The letter, received by NFF on Wednesday refers to some of the events that took place at NFF general assembly held on 26th August 2014.

The general assembly had been duly convened by the NFF Executive Committee to adopt a new framework for the NFF elections. But some members carved out a faction and conducted elections in the absence of the NFF President, Aminu Maigari who was, at the time being held by security forces for interrogation.

Earlier, in a letter sent on 29th August, FIFA had confirmed that it would not recognise the results of the 26th August elections. The football governing body had also said it would table the matter before the appropriate FIFA bodies, should there still be persons claiming to have been elected and occupying the NFF offices at midnight on 1st September 2014.

But when the deadline expired on Monday, some people were still claiming to have been elected and were occupying the NFF premises.

In a bid to prevent any rash decision, FIFA Emergency Committee decided to set a new deadline of 8th September 2014 at 08.00 CET.

“Should the new deadline not be respected, NFF will be automatically suspended until the board claiming to be elected vacates the premises of the NFF and the NFF General Secretary is able to perform his work without interference,” the letter from FIFA read.

FIFA directed that NFF Executive Committee as composed on 25th August 2014, under the presidency of Aminu Maigari, should convene as soon as possible to hold a first extraordinary general assembly to elect the members of the electoral committee and a second extraordinary general assembly in the shortest time possible allowed by law in order to proceed with the elections of new NFF office-bearers.

Only a few days after world football governing body, FIFA Lifted the suspension it placed on Nigeria due to government interference in the country’s football association’s affairs, the Executive Committee of the board of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has sacked its president, Alhaji Aminu Maigari.

The committee met at the NFF Secretariat, Abuja early Thursday to go over the crisis that lead to a court injunction ordering the federation’s executives to be dissolved, an action that in turn led to the FIFA ban.

The committee also reviewed issues surrounding the lack of transparency marring all financial dealings of the federation and failure of Maigari to convene a meeting of the committee in the last eight months.

They noted that for the period of time the committee went without meeting, many weighty decisions about Nigeria football had been taken by a small cabal within the board, thus the executives passed a vote of no confidence on Maigari.

According to the Communique signed by Alhaji Muazu Sulyeman, the drafting committee chairman of NFF, the immediate dismissal of Maigari from the NFF executive committee has been approved on grounds of alleged “financial misappropriation, misapplication and maladministration”.

The Committee mandated Chief Mike Okeke Umeh, NFF’s first vice president, to take on the role of   Acting President, presiding over the affairs of the federation until a new NFF Executive Committee is elected and inaugurated by 26th August.

The committee applauded FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for their sincere interest in the development of Nigeria football, pledging that the nation will continue to abide by the rules prescribed by the governing bodies.

They thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and all Nigerians for their patience and understanding during the crisis period, reiterating that the NFF is constantly working toward the development of football in Nigeria.

Members of the committee in attendance were:  Vice President Chief Mike Umeh, Chief Emeka Inyama, Mrs Dilichukwu Onyedinma, Alhaji Ahmad Muazu Kawu, Chief Effiong Johnson, Barr. Christopher Green, Shehu Adamu, Alhaji Muazu Suleyman, Mr. Ayodeji Tinubu, Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed a.k.a ‘Fresh’,  Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande,  Musa Amadu and the sacked president Maigari.

 

The Cranes of Uganda have opted to play against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the friendly match ealier scheduled to be against the El Verde of Bolivia.

Bolivia withdrew from the friendly set for 26th March in Uyo, because of the fear of armed conflict and the tense political situation in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Nigerian officials said they they were shocked with the withdrawal because they had put everything in place to ensure a hitch-free game.

The friendly against the Cranes is scheduled for 25th March at the same Uyo, Akwa Ibom stadium.

With the latest development, Super Eagles captain and goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama will now be able to win his 100th cap.

The 32-year-old had been named in the 28-man squad selected by Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi.

The withdrawal of the El Verde means that Enyeama would have to wait until Nigeria's friendly against South Africa on 29th March before earning his landmark 100th cap.

Other players named in the squad against Bolivia include, Brown Ideye, Anthony Ujah, Aalesund defender, Akeem Latifu; Watford striker, Odion Ighalo and Belgian club Gent Moses Simon.  

 

The Green Eagles of Nigeria, also referred to as the Home based Super Eagles senior national will resume training camp in Abuja for their two international friendly matches against Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan on Tuesday.

The friendly matches will be a sort of compensation for Nigerian football fans, since the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Equatorial Guinea.

Nigeria will not be defending the title they won in the last edition of the championship after failing to win crucial qualifiers against Congo and South Africa.

The Green Eagles will be led by assistant coach Daniel Amokachi to confront 1992 African champions Cote d’Ivoire on 11th January. They will take on Falcons of Sudan on 19th of the same month.

The players had an earlier planned resumption date for Sunday, 28the December but it was postponed till 30th December after Mali backed down from participating befor Sudan agreed to face the Super Eagles.

The players have been instructed to arrive at their usual abode at Bolton White Apartment, Zone 7, Abuja with their international passports and four passport photographs by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Following the call to camp, NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu warned the invited players against lateness to camp.

He explained that the friendly games billed to be played at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates were planned to start up the building of a new Super Eagles squad from the home front as well as to expose the Green Eagles.

“All the players are expected in camp latest by Tuesday. Lateness will not be condoned as any player who does will face the penalty. We accepted the friendly games in UAE to expose the home based players despite the country failed to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations,” Musa Amadu said on Radio Nigeria.

“We have no time to waste as we think we need to begin to build a national team from the domestic league. Same time, we are working round the clock to make sure that the Super Eagles will have opponents for all the FIFA windows available in year 2015 and we are happy that the two games with the Ivorians and the Malians .

“The two games against Ivory Coast and Sudan will be good for the home based Super Eagles. As you all know, Cote d’Ivoire are serious contenders and will be fielding their strongest team against Nigeria in the friendly, that will be a competitive test for the players.

 

The players invites are:

Invited players are:

Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Gombe United); Daniel Akpeyi (Warri Wolves); Theophilus Afelokhai (Kano Pillars)

Defenders: Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars); Idris Aloma (El-Kanemi FC); Chimma Akas (Sharks FC); Nelson Ogbonna (Heartland FC); Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves); Erhun Obanor (Bendel Insurance); Bright Esieme (Enyimba FC); Umar Zango (Kano Pillars)

Midfielders: Ammel Angel Wilfred (Kogi United); Joseph Nathaniel (Sharks FC); Charles Henlong (Giwa FC); Stanley Dimgba (Warri Wolves); Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars); Chinedu Udeaga (Enugu Rangers); Emem Eduok (Dolphins FC); Kingsley Sokari (Enyimba FC)

Forwards: Mfon Udoh (Enyimba FC); Gbolahan Salami (Warri Wolves); Osaguona Christian (Enugu Rangers); Gambo Muhammad (Kano Pillars); Christian Obiozor (Enugu Rangers)

On his return to as Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi has called up 25 players for the crucial 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Red Devils of Congo and Bafana Bafana of South Africa.

Obviously going with popular demand, Keshi included in the list of invited players, Villareal striker, Ikechukwu Uche for the first time in about two years, and there is also a first senior team opportunity for Nasarawa United midfielder Tony Edjomari.

Home–based defender Solomon Kwambe was also recalled, and Aaron Samuel (who got one of the goals against Sudan), Hope Akpan, Sunday Emmanuel and Emem Eduok have further chances after being called for the matches against the Falcons of Sudan.

All the players are expected to report at the Bolton White Apartments, Wuse, Abuja on Sunday, 9th November.

The full list:

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Lille OSC, France); Austin Ejide (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel); Chigozie Agbim (Gombe United, Nigeria)

Defenders: Elderson Echiejile (Monaco FC, France); Juwon Oshaniwa (Ashdod FC, Israel); Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars, Nigeria); Godfrey Oboabona (Rizespor FC, Turkey); Kenneth Omeruo (Middlesbrough FC, England); Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves, Nigeria)

Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Hope Akpan (Reading FC, England); Raheem Lawal (Eskisehirspor FC, Turkey); Omatsone Aluko (Hull City, England); Tony Edjomari (Nasarawa United, Nigeria)

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce FC, Turkey); Gbolahan Salami (Warri Wolves, Nigeria); Osaguona Ighodaro (Enugu Rangers, Nigeria); Ikechukwu Uche (Villareal FC, Spain); Aaron Samuel (Guangzhou R&F, China); Sunday Emmanuel (SV Scholz Grodig, Austria); Babatunde Michael (Volyn Lutsk, Ukraine): Emem Eduok (Dolphins FC, Nigeria)

 

 

 

 

 

The battle between the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and Stephen Keshi, the Super Eagles head coach got to a head Thursday morning as NFF sent him packing from his job and appointed Coach Amodu Shuaibu to take over the team for a while before an expatriate would be appointed as head coach.

Also affected by the sack are Keshi's assistants, Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorounmu.

A statement by signed, Sulaiman Yahaya-Kwande, an Executive Committee member of the federation stated that the committee, "unanimously, praised the excellent contributions of the technical crew of the senior national team, Super Eagles, led by Mr. Stephen Keshi, to the glorious accomplishments of the team in the past three years, and hailed Keshi, Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorounmu as true national heroes.

"However, in the interest of Nigeria football and the desire to ensure qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals, the committee decided to relieve them of their duties with immediate effect.

"The committee also, unanimously, approved the appointment of a consortium of coaches to lead the Super Eagles for only the two concluding matches of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series (against Congo in Brazzaville and against South Africa in Uyo), after which an expatriate Coach will be appointed.

"The consortium, led by Amodu Shaibu, also has Salisu Yusuf, Gbenga Ogunbote and Aloysius Agu. The team also has a new Coordinator in former international, Garba Lawal, while Toyin Ibitoye is the new Media Officer and Godfirst Chike is the new equipment manager. Team Secretary, Enebi Achor, is retained."

...As FG Introduces Use Of MRI Scanners for Athletes

 Minister of Sport Dr. Tanmmy Danagogo has vowed to deal decisively with any coach or official who takes encourages athletes to use banned performance enhancing substances in Nigeria.

Danagogo issued the warning on Thursday in his first official reaction to the doping  allegation on teenage weightlifter Chika Amalaha, in the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. He also said the country would introduce the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as condition for double checking the status of athletes before any major competition.

"I will ensure the use of MRI scanning devices amongst other measures, as routine on our age-grade players, and pre-competition drug-test regime on athletes generally," Danagogo said.

He warned of severe consequences for any officials and coaches  who are found guilty of encouraging or condoning cheating of any kind.

"The reported first sample drug-test failure of our female weightlifter is very embarrassing and I feel so sad, although I am still convinced that 16-year-old Amalaha is innocent," he added.

"I hope she doesn't fail the confirmation test." 

Danagogo promised to use his office as sports minister to enshrine tenets of integrity and fair competition in the nation's sports,especially focusing on the youths.

The world football governing body, FIFA has lifted the ban placed on Nigeria for government interference in the affairs of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The ban was imposed on the country  on 9th July.

According to a FIFA press release obtained by Huhuonline.com on Friday, the ban was lifted because statutory order has been reinstated at the NFF and the legitimate bodies reinstalled to run its affairs.

"FIFA noted that the court proceedings and order preventing the president of the NFF, the NFF Executive Committee members and the NFF Congress from running the affairs of Nigerian football that prompted the suspension have been withdrawn," the statement read.

"FIFA has decided to lift the suspension as of today, Friday 18th July 2014. The lifting of the suspension means that all rights of the NFF as a FIFA member as defined in article 12 of the FIFA Statutes are reinstated.”

As a result of the reinstatement NFF has said it will immediately  commence “arrangements for the under 20 Women National Team, Falconets to travel to Moncton, Canada, next week for a final training camp ahead of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup taking place in the same country.

NFF also assured that preparation for the under 17 boys to fly to Democratic Republic of Congo for a 2015 African U-17 Championship qualifier on Sunday, 27th July would commence immediately. 

This writer resisted being drawn into a public political discussion recently, but can clearly state his minds on unbecoming events by some officials of a political party based on allegations that that would wake-up a dead soul. This writer woke up at exactly 2:58AM singing an old tune by Ebenezer Obey that says, “Oja Oyingbo ko mo pe enikan o wa o” meaning, Oyingbo market doesn’t know if someone didn’t come and it took a long time to go back to sleep because of certain reality in applying the song to the current spate of events in Nigeria. From allegation of dollars everywhere being thrown away by a certain contestant of a party in the upcoming election to reckless security damnation by some citizens. Of course that song has become relevant to some political party, not just the ruling party because the suffering of the people, the austere environment, the dollar rising prices and the tagging of being corrupt mean absolutely nothing to some of these election contestants.

Allegation in respect of doling out dollars was that the contestant were providing incentives to the voters to compromise their voting power and of course, legally speaking both the offeror and the offeree of the incentive will be determined to have acted contrary to law of the land. This writer was never approached nor would he entertain such corrupt practice, but going by the actions of his colleagues in sports environment, it is very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion. Some of these people admitted openly to this bribery for vote agenda without any reservation and this is abnormal actions which must CHANGE.

Ideally, the penalty for these actions is jail time to both receiver and the payer and of course there may not be enough space in prisons to accommodate all of them, but as a deterrent to some of these people must serve jail terms or public flogging. At this juncture, it must be asked, where does the scarce dollars come from? Postulation exists that the monies were from federal purse or ill-gotten gains but is that source anything for a debate or rather the reasoning behind why such wasteful spending occurred without the political party base of such individuals calling such persons to order. The image this writer sees from such actions can be framed metaphorically, as an individual being accused of being a thief and during such accusation the individual was observed pickpocketing one of the accusers wallet while standing. This cannot be good for the spirit of democracy or the nation’s interest.

 Another issue of concern is the potential explosive situation where certain militants from the south-south to the southwest who appeared to be brandishing dangerous weapons at some individuals while protesting against the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and outright calling for his sack. Unfortunately, there is no proof of a link to any political party as their sponsor, but they admittedly announced their support for the ruling party. This writer would have expected the ruling party leaders to renounce the actions of these groups, but the party has yet to do so and until then the voters’ insinuation and allegation that those groups were sponsored remained valid. The fear is the action of these groups when the election takes place or decision is announced for the March 28 election.

Certainly these events cannot be regarded as usual electioneering rather they are despicable criminal acts in motion and the key question is where the Attorney General is? Or why the security agencies failed to respond? Either way, no one can say with all honesty, they condoned the actions of the groups not because of right of protest, but brandishing of weapons without police authority, this writer imagines. Strange things, strange happenings, strange people and all these MUST CHANGE.

I rest for now.                                                                                      

Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)

Alas Nigerians! The National Assembly passed NFF Act 2013 and no Act for other sports but unfortunately it is comically and clinically irrelevant and dead on arrival as others based on the antecedents of present administration where the country’s citizens continue to be muscled from relying on Nigeria’s Judicial independence from Executives for fear of some archaic “servitude phenomenon”. Nigerians are not second class citizens in their own country, but only in Nigeria can we expect this Master-Servant mentality where our laws are jettisoned for the sake of FIFA and there was no record of any real benefit coming out of FIFA to Nigeria ever. Yes, appearance fees at World Cup cannot be compared with a N450million monthly dash by the federal government to NFF. So what does the country gain from FIFA insults, absolutely nothing. This article is about all sports in Nigeria not just football for the benefit of all Nigerians.

When Nigeria talks about RIO Olympics Games that is due to commence in about 18months or so, the imposed people in charge of sports will ‘shout’ them down as a distant agenda that is less urgent. But it doesn't seem that the Minister for Sports, Mr. Danagogo aka Danaboy got a clue on how  to plan or prepare for an Olympics Games, on the other hand Nigeria has never appointed anyone who knows how, since the so-called democracy ‘pinched’ the brains of the country’s supposedly leaders. And of course Danaboy tenure is less than 90days away. This writing will attempt to provide guidance to the Sports Ministry as a civic duty. Some information is part of this writer published book.

Anticipatory (Long Range Plan) Program

This is developmental regime aimed at the 2020 Olympics Games. A Sports Development Authority (SDA) must be established.

Sports Development Authority (SDA) - Athletics

“NSC must establish a new corporate entity with the aim of developing athletes. In order to achieve this aim a new institutional structure must be established along with the determination on how such institution be governed.

Nigeria embraces American-styled democracy in her federal government structure and it will not be a difficult process to allow the governed, including the athletes in determining the leadership of the new SDA.

Stakeholders

It is fundamental in most democratic societies that the governed participates in the process of appointing or electing leaders and for the purposes of this writing, the governed are the stakeholders. Among them are all registered athletes, non-defaulting States Amateur Athletics Associations, non-defaulting parties such as club owners and other organizations or groups like uniformed services, etc.

NSC employees do not qualify as stakeholder. The non-defaulting party is defined as those individuals or clubs that are not in any arrears of debt to AFN or any athlete. A defaulting State Associations are those who failed to host or hosts less than mandatory minimum of three age-graded / inter-school competitions every year and those that failed to provide sporting facilities for that State.

The stakeholders’ choice of leaders begins with the election of the new members of the Board of Directors.

Board of Directors

The Board of directors is routinely appointed at-large based on merit and qualification to supervise an organization’s decision making by voting for or against any measure. This method of appointment should be adopted and strictly followed unless the stakeholders determine that such rule should be amended. A Board of Directors Selection Committee (BDSC) should be organized by the stakeholders. BDSC will set the guidelines for the Board election, conduct the election and set the goals of the Board, including the requirements that elected board member will be limited to two terms of four years. Previous and that the outgoing AFN Board members are not eligible to contest any position in SDA.

After the election process, the list of top ten will be publicly announced for vetting including security clearance by the country’s security agencies and validation of work experiences, credentials or qualifications. However, the incumbents are expected to have a fund-raising background.

BDSC will determine nine among ten forwarded individuals based on the number of votes, security findings and other merit such as fundraising skills, experiences and qualifications. Once that decision is made BDSC function terminates. Any appeal of the process must be delivered to NSC for resolution.

The selected Board members determine, among themselves who will be the Chairperson, and other office holders. The Chairmanship should be rotated annually. However, no Board member can run SDA operations in any capacity.

In addition, the new Board monitors SDA’s affairs through Committee of experts in specific areas such as audits, athletes’ or coach selections.

All Board decisions must meet the quorum requirements, simple majority or unanimous decisions in certain areas depending on the SDA’s constitutional demands. Veto power may exist on certain issues (such as the dismissal of its President during his / her term).

Restructuring Transition Committee (RTC)

Restructuring Transition Committee (RTC) should be set-up by the new Board. RTC has two functions, which are technical (athletes' specific) or non-technical.

RTC-Non-technical should establish a search Committee for hiring a permanent head of marketing / promotions within 30 days.

The role of the President will be defined by the RTC with amendments by any succeeding Board.

The RTC (and later SDA President) is required to list out annual local, national and international program of events along with funding estimates. The suggested local competitions funded by each State should be at least three age-graded or inter-school state championships on each year. Four national competitions privately funded should be organized and at least two international outings should be encouraged. SDA may at any time fund its own weekly All Comers meets, etc.

RTC should train and engage former athletes to officiate any of its sanctioned events nationwide because this is a pool of experts currently ignored.

RTC should negotiate with international shoe companies directly to assist the nation's athletes in athletic wears and equipment. SDA will not supply athletes with running / spike shoes due to the Card System funding mechanism. Only in international engagement will athletic wear be supplied to selected athletes.

RTC should set its fundraising goal to at least $30Million annually and not operate a budget deficit through shrewd spending.

RTC should within two weeks begin the process of setting up a search Committee with instructions to forward names of potential (President) candidate for background checks (security, fraud, criminal, etc.).

Until SDA President is hired, the RTC-Technical can in the interim hire Technical Secretary, Coaches / Trainers. In addition, it can prepare contract documents for the Card System and determine eligibility of athletes and enroll them immediately. Catch Them Young (CTY) program preparatory phase begins immediately through research and liaison between RTC, Federal Ministry of Education, LGAs and State governments. The Minister for Sports must be available for meetings with State officials.

New President (SDA)

The President of an organization runs that organization. This is an answer to resolving several perennial concerns in a typical Nigerian organization and for the new SDA’s President, his or her authority in consultation with the management team cannot be challenged except perhaps actions contrary to SDA constitutional documents. The President should shun all outside interests or Board interference with operations.

Functions of SDA President

The primary role of the President is the overall management of operations or activities that SDA is mandated to carry out within its constitutional limit. Essentially, the key functions of management not just the classical view by Fayol47 but also Mitzberg48ten identified functions of management.

The President, upon assumption of duty is expected to develop a plan of activities and resources along with operational target.

Activities

SDA must develop strategic and tactical goals, in addition to pre-existing operational goals by NSC. Those operational goals should be modified to accommodate new interim managers of various categories of athletes. The interim managers as appointed by the Board will oversee the effectiveness of the new regime structure.”

Strategic plan

Funding

• SDA should phase-out reliance on federal government funding except for the All African and the Olympics Games.

• The CS should continue because it provides incentives and motivation for the athletes while

 The Catch Them Young (CTY) program discovers raw talent early. The CS costs can be as high as US$1million for about 100 athletes (some will get $1,500 per month others get $1,000 while the juniors get at least $300 plus free education).

• Ban on NSC direct funding (travel and accommodations) of Board members to international

   Championships or Olympics games. Cost savings can exceed US$100, 000.

• Financial independence of NSC except mandatory new pension scheme matching contribution.

• Athletes, clubs, organizations, States, and others that take part in AFN competitions will fund such competitions through entry fees, club annual fees and stakeholders charge. This funding mechanism can fetch as much as US$1million annually.

Development / Performance

• SDA must consider as low priority athletes who are over 30years old and not worldly ranked above top 15 in their respective events.

• Redeploy many sprinters running slower than 10.3secs in 100meters of other events they are better suited such as jumps, hurdles, and long sprints. Re-emphasize throws and distance events.

• Increase transparency in decision making and athletes / Coaches selections.

• Phased-in the Local Government Area (LGA) inter-school competitions as early as 2013. Funded by LGAs.

• Phased-in State age-graded schools competitions as early as 2013. Funded by the States.

• Restructure privately funded State and National Junior Championships as early as 2013.

• Restructure National Sports Festival with under-18 category.

Technical scheme

The new technical regime follows a two-pronged approach, the Card System (CS) and Catch Them Young (CTY). This new regime will be phased-in over a six month period, but initially headed by 5-man / woman team named Restructuring Transition Committee (RTC) – Technical; with verifiable pure technical skills in track and field (may not all be Nigerians).

The regime is modelled to cater for talented athletes’ year round. The starting point is Figure 2 below which categorizes new technical regime (for athletes).

(i) Developmental concerns Elementary and Junior Secondary Schools (Coaches are seconded from the Nigerian Institute of Sports (NIS) new internship programs).

(ii) Junior deals with High School students (Elite junior attends schools funded by the NSC or AFN)

(iii) Elite athletes deal with ‘A’ or ‘B’ standard under IAAF World Championship rating. Senior Elite ‘A’ must be world ranked and Elite ‘B’ must be less than 21 years old. Junior Elite must meet ‘B’ standard and less than 18 years old

(iv) Retired (athletes) is a new category that must be supported based on their contribution towards the new pension scheme. The athletes must have competed internationally in the country for 10 years

Elite Maintenance Program

This is a program that will provide all required assistance to athletes who have reached Olympics standards as of December 2014.

“Tactical plan

• To meet the demands of a team to international competitions within the next two years, SDA must aim to maintain and sustain current crops of athletes by enrolling them in a new Card System (CS) program for junior and senior elite athletes. Such program discussed below includes eligibility for retirement benefits for athletes that invested over ten years on the national team. CS program is estimated at about US$1million annually and paid directly into the enrolled athletes’ bank account from the finance Ministry on monthly basis.

• Presents a quality Olympics Game’s team within 16months by using the following approach:

Hire twenty coaches nationwide to prepare for the elite structure and youth emphasis.

Reformulate funding sources and bring all States and LGAs as well as Ministry of Education together under the new approach;

Discourage spending on foreign airline tickets for national trials because it shows a preferential treatment;

Discourage forced camping (local or international) and reemphasises local training facilities in all region of the country. Athletes invited to represent Nigeria can assemble and train at the local centre near them under the guidance of National Coach assigned to that region;

Redeploy of good athletes running slower than 10.3 seconds in 100 meters to other events should be encouraged.”

I rest for now.                                                                                      

Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)

 

Chief Coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi who was asked to step for aside Amodu Shuaibu has been re-appointed.

Keshi’s expired contract as coach of the African champions had not been renewed and any hope of renewing it had been dashed earlier this month, when new NFF President, Amaju Pinnik ordered that Shuaibu should take over for the next two AFCON qualifiers.

But on Friday, head of the federation’s technical committee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, said his body had “decided to accept” a proposal re-instating Keshi as Super Eagles coach for Nigeria’s next Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Congo and South Africa in November.

Though not indicated by Anyansi-Agwu, the reinstatement is most likely as a result of Shuaibu’s entreaty to the NFF in a letter dated 27th October. In the letter, he had told NFF that the time given him to take over the team was too short to assemble a new team or put the one on ground in a shape to his taste. He had thus entreated NFF to reinstate Keshi.  

Former executives of the Nigerian Football Federation, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, Barrister Christoher Green, Barrister Musa Amadu and Alhaji Shehu Dikko have threatened a court action against the State Security Service (SSS) and the Police over what they described as “incessant invitations and unlawful detention” if they do not desist from the act.

In a letter sent to the concerned parties, the former executives, represented by Festus Keyamo chambers urged the authorities to desist from harassing his client’s in order not to undermine the authority and jurisdiction of the court which is now seised of this matter.

The letter read: “We are counsel to Alhaji Aminu Maigari, Barrister Christopher Green, Barrister Musa Amadu and Alhaji Shehu Dikko (hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’) and on whose instructions we write to you.

“Our client informed us that upon their arrival from the FIFA World Cup Competition in Brazil on 4th July, 2014, they were arrested by your men and operatives and detained at the SSS headquarters. Our clients further briefed us that subsequently, they have been receiving series of invitations from both the State Security Service and the Nigeria Police and that when they honour those invitations despite their busy schedules, they are detained for hours without any information as to the reason for their invitation.

“Owing to the foregoing and acting on our clients’ instructions, we have instituted an action in the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking declarative and injunctive reliefs for the enforcement of our clients’ fundamental rights. Find attached the court processes.

“We are by this letter giving you notice of the pendency of this suit and respectfully urging you to desist from carrying out any action that will undermine the authority and jurisdiction of the court which is now seised of this matter. Please find attached a copy of the originating processes in this suit.

“We hope you realise that any action on your part in form of continuous invitations, harassments, arrests and detentions will undermine the authority of the court in this regard.

“We understand that these various harassments are designed to scuttle the Nigerian Football Federation Congress slated for the 30th of September, 2014 in Warri, Delta State, and your actions are at the behest of those who intend to scuttle the congress as they do not mean well for Nigerian Football. Kindly note that if your actions precipitate a crises that bungles the Congress, our clients shall not be held responsible for any fate that befalls our football from FIFA.

“We look forward to your co-operation in the circumstance.

Friday, September 26, 2014

1. The Director-General,

State Security Service,

Aso Drive,

Abuja.

2.The Inspector-General of Police,

        Force Headquarters,

        Louis Edet House,

        Central Area,

        Abuja.

Dear Sir,

INCESSANT INVITATIONS AND UNLAWFUL DETENTION OF ALHAJI AMINU MAIGARI, BARRISTER CHRISTOHER GREEN, BARRISTER MUSA AMADU AND ALHAJI SHEHU DIKKO

We are counsel to Alhaji Aminu Maigari, Barrister Christopher Green, Barrister Musa Amadu and Alhaji Shehu Dikko (hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’) and on whose instructions we write to you.

Our client informed us that upon their arrival from the FIFA World Cup Competition in Brazil on 4th July, 2014, they were arrested by your men and operatives and detained at the SSS headquarters. Our clients further briefed us that subsequently, they have been receiving series of invitations from both the State Security Service and the Nigeria Police and that when they honour those invitations despite their busy schedules, they are detained for hours without any information as to the reason for their invitation.

Owing to the foregoing and acting on our clients’ instructions, we have instituted an action in the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking declarative and injunctive reliefs for the enforcement of our clients’ fundamental rights. Find attached the court processes.

We are by this letter giving you notice of the pendency of this suit and respectfully urging you to desist from carrying out any action that will undermine the authority and jurisdiction of the court which is now seised of this matter. Please find attached a copy of the originating processes in this suit.

We hope you realise that any action on your part in form of continuous invitations, harassments, arrests and detentions will undermine the authority of the court in this regard.

We understand that these various harassments are designed to scuttle the Nigerian Football Federation Congress slated for the 30th of September, 2014 in Warri, Delta State, and your actions are at the behest of those who intend to scuttle the congress as they do not mean well for Nigerian Football. Kindly note that if your actions precipitate a crises that bungles the Congress, our clients shall not be held responsible for any fate that befalls our football from FIFA.

We look forward to your co-operation in the circumstance.

Thank you.

Yours most trusted,

FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.

Head of Chambers

 

The Federal Government of Nigeria has pledged handsome financial rewards for any athlete who wins any medal at the ongoing Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Under the arrangement, any athlete who wins a Gold medal will go home with $7,000, Silver medalists will get $4,000 each, while any athlete who wins a Bronze will go home with $3,000.

Announcing the financial package, during an interactive session with the Nigerian athletes and officials, at the Games Village's Chef-de- Mission conference room, Glasgow‎, on Friday night, Minister of Sports, Dr. Tanmmy  Danagogo, said the financial gesture was designed to motivate the athletes to victory.

"This financial reward is designed to motivate all of you to win more medal for Nigeria. We are proud of the medal we have won at the weight lifting category and we are expecting more from all of you. Let me assure you that the government is ready to do more for all of you if you win more medals for the country," Danagogo said.

In addition to the $7,000 for Miss Chika  Ahamala, the first Gold medalist for Nigeria, in the women's weight lifting category, Danagogo announced anadditional $1,000 for her breaking  the Commonwealth record in the weight lifting category. 

While reassuring the athletes of the Federal Government's commitment towards their welfare and successes at the event, the minister said the over 170 million Nigerians were looking up to the athletes to win medals for the country.

"I can tell you that President Goodluck Jonathan has done everything possible for all of you to succeed in this tournament. The expectations of Mr. President and the rest of Nigerians is that you all win medals for us. We are proud of you and will give you all the necessary supports that you need to succeed," he said.

Those present at the meeting were the Director General (DG), National Sports Commission (NSC), Mr. Gbenga Elegbeleye, Director of Sports Medicine, Dr. Adukadri Mohammed, Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA), Ministry of Sports and President of the Nigeria Olympics Committee, (NOC), Alhaji Mohammed Ndanusa, among others. 

The Federal Government has been challenged to probe the multi-billion naira finances allocated to the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) led by Alhaji Aminu Maigari, in the last 24 months.

It has also been asked to look into the alleged fraudulent deal signed with the League Management Company (LMC) with an advertising agency.

In the petition signed by a former Group Sports Editor of Thisday Newspaper and current publisher of Gongnews.com, Mr. Olajide Fashikun and addressed to the minister of sports Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the petitioner said he decided to call for the probe of the NFF leadership "as part of the desired changes which Nigeria's sports deserves following the years of maladministration and loss of focus by those saddled with the responsibility of developing sports".

Fashikun called on the government to investigate the $2 million paid by the Federal Government and $8 million paid by FIFA for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, observing that some players are still claiming that they have not received their share for participation having played in the qualifiers without playing in the finals. He also wants a probe into the movement of the $1 million reserved by the Sani Abdullahi led board for the furnishing of the Sunday Dankaro House and secretariat of the NFF in Package B at the National Stadium, Abuja; the N790 million for the 2013 African Cup of Nations; the N170 million received for the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil and the money paid by FIFA for same.

The petitioner further urged the government to probe the $1.5 million grant given by FIFA to prepare the Super Eagles for the 2014 World Cup; proceeds from the sponsorship deals with Globacom, Guiness, TomTom, Peak Milk and Adidas; N1.288 billion being the sum of the monthly subvention received from government from January 2013 to June 2014; N850 million received from government for the preparation and participation of the Super Eagles in the first round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the $8 million and $6 million expected revenue from FIFA for playing in the first round and qualifying for the round of 16 respectively.

"Nigeria football must be saved and helped to progress without committing the same error in the future, and as a measure to prevent this from repeating itself, given as deterrence, you must act in good faith," Fashikun said.

In the petition dated 4th July 2014, Fashikun said since football, is one of the 26 sectors under the purview of the minister and the fact that Nigerians are very emotional and passionate about football, it is urgent that a probe be initiated to address the anomalies in the system.

“It is sad and unjustifiable that monies taken from the public is being frittered away for unnecessary and under developmental purposes. That is why I am demanding from the minister of sports: an independent committee to probe the allegations or an investigation by a competent statutory institution," Fashikun said.

He stated that had the NFF board used the funds available to them judiciously, the eventual protest of the players that embarrassed the nation would have been avoided.

“The cost of that embarrassment cannot be quantified in money matters," Fashikun concluded.

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