FIFA, theWorld football governing
bodyat the weekend warned that it would not consult with any of
the parties fighting for the leadership of the Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF) before throwing the country out of the game if it found
that a third party had been meddling in the nation’s football affairs.
The
Nigerian football community was jolted by a Supreme Court decision
directing the parties fighting for the leadership of the NFF to go back
to the Jos High court to sort out the suit filed by one of the parties
claiming it is the right board to lead the federation.
Following
the suit filed by the group loyal to Ambassador Chris Giwa, the world
football governing body in 2016 banned all the parties involved in
instituting the case, including Giwa, Muazu Suleiman, Effiong Johnson,
Yahaya Adama and Sani Fema from all football related activities for five
years.
The world body later extended the five-year ban to a
worldwide ban following the Giwa group’s decision to take their case to
the CAS.
Reacting to Friday’s Supreme court decision on the
issue, FIFA warned Nigeria at the weekend that it would not hesitate to
throw the country out of world football, including stopping the Super
Eagles from participating in the 2018 World Cup.
It also reminded
Nigeria that the litigants in the case were banned from all football
activities and therefore should not be seen meddling or taking part in
anything related to the game.
Yesterday, the NFF in a statement
said it had taken note of the decision of the Supreme Court to refer
back to the Federal High Court, to start afresh a case brought before
the apex court by two football stakeholders against the NFF leadership.
The
NFF First Vice President/Chairman, Legal Committee, Seyi Akinwunmi said
the federation appreciated the reasoning of the apex court in refusing
the prayers of the appellants, which if granted would have accorded them
some kind of legitimacy, against the backdrop of an ongoing
administration of Nigerian Football which is at the cusp of taking
Nigeria to the world’s greatest football event, the World Cup.
He
disclosed that the NFF’s lawyers were confidently prepared to argue the
case afresh and look forward to finally putting the matter to rest, and
to prove to the world that Nigerian football can continue to be run in
its orderly manner.
He referred to the case as a mere distraction
for Nigerian Football, which ought not to have been instituted in the
first place given the convention for resolution of football disputes.
He
said, “We are law-abiding citizens of this great country, and we have
no qualms about starting the case afresh. The Supreme Court did the
right thing in the circumstances, and while we must be careful not to
discuss matters which are subjudice, we must note that the appellants
have within the norms in sporting disputes, actually exhausted all
legitimate channels in this matter, including arguing their position,
and failing, at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“Globally,
the convention of football is that football matters should not be taken
to civil courts. Instead, it should be taken to Arbitration as the
appellants have already done in this matter with no success. That
ordinarily should have been the end of the matter. However, as
law-abiding citizens, the NFF is ready to follow this through, vindicate
ourselves and continue with the peaceful and enormous progress that has
come to define Nigerian Football in the past few years.”
Source: Guardian