Sixteen of the 37 state Football Associations (FA) have taken world football governing body FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) over a proposed plan to set up a Normalisation Committee for Nigerian football.
“At least, we now know who are the real enemies of Nigerian football,” one top official told SCORENigeria
“This is a direct affront on the reform ordered by the Nigerian Government on the back of some rather disappointing results internationally as well as serious governance deficits.”
This move is being spearheaded by a chairman of one of the Southwest states and he has reportedly invested huge personal resources in this venture.
The state FAs had proposed to FIFA during their recent official visit to Nigeria a caretaker committee to be headed and dominated by them following the resignation of the entire NFF executive committee led by Ibrahim Gusau.
The state FAs have held sway in the governance of Nigerian football since then NFF president Sani Lulu pulled through a 2010 NFF Statutes that had a 44-person NFF Congress dominated by 37 FAs.
The Congress recently passed an ammendment to this Statutes to expand to 52 persons and still dominated by the state FAs.
The direct consequence of this dominance is that the state FAs have also dominated the NFF executive committee.
Had the scheduled September 27 NFF elections held, the state FAs would have again enjoyed at least 95% of the NFF board.
However, majority of stakeholders of Nigerian football have kicked against the dominance of the state FAs, proposing instead that the NFF Congress be expanded to take in more people and more ideas, who can move the national sport forward.
The FIFA Council will today deliberate on the situation in Nigerian football and it is widely expected will decide to set up a Normalisation Committee with the powers to redesign the Statutes and governance structure of the country’s No 1 sport.
A report has suggested that the Normalisation Committee will run until May 31, 2027, during which time it will carry out wholesome changes in the administration and the governance structure that has held Nigerian football backwards for many years.
The committee will also supervise elections into the NFF executive committee.
