Fifa has again urged political organisations to cease from interfering in football administration matters in reaction to previous cases.
But like the case of sex and spirituality, the church versus state; wonder if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been told to breed like rabbits in light of procreation- permit my metaphors.
Nigeria had repeatedly clashed with world football’s governing body since the end of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The NFF entertained waves of threats about impending suspension to football activities last year on the back of a nine-day international ban after a court ruling sacked then-president Aminu Maigari and his executive committee (ExCo), and the sports minister appointed a sole administrator to run the football body.
The last episode of Nigeria’s unlawful relationship with Fifa came about in October when a Jos High Court voided the September 30 NFF congress, which produced the present composition of ExCos headed by Amaju Pinnick.
“In reaction to various cases of political interference, the (Fifa) executive, while reiterating the necessary respect towards national legislation, called for a stop to interference by political bodies into the affairs of football’s governing bodies,” a Fifa statement issued at the end of its first ExCo meeting of 2015 said.
There has been relative sanity in the administration of football in the country since the Senate passed a bill to legalise the NFF as a statutory body in November, but with the federation still heavily reliant on government funding, subsequent contravention of rules and regulation might arise somewhere in the future- most likely to stem from its internal governance.
And the manner with which the NFF ExCos handle their differences, hence, becomes of the essence. There are unconfirmed speculations about ‘misapplication’ of funds in the NFF, which reportedly led to the resignation of Barrister Musa Amadu as secretary general and the appointment of Dr. Mohammed Sanusi as his successor on Thursday.
Amadu is thought to have refused to withdraw $US3.6m requested by Pinnick and the NFF chief is said to have accused him of questioning his authority. The immediate past scribe is alleged to have being adamant not to approve the aforementioned sum of Fifa money intended as repayment of a loan from the Federal government, as it must meet financial regulation.
While this has not degenerated to crisis, the need for check and balancing cannot be ignored in the system. It is plausible enough, if the fraternity could investigate circumstances which prompted Amadu to throw in the towel for proper application of rules.
It is well with Nigerian Football and the thief called NFF