CAF backs Pinnick in Nigerian row as government calls emergency talks

By Andrew Warsaw

The political in-fighting plaguing Nigerian football has taken another twist with the man ousted as head of the national federation (NFF) being personally endorsed by his confederation.

Last week, the resumption of Nigeria’s domestic league was postponed indefinitely amid a leadership crisis that has caused total gridlock with a FIFA ban imminent.

Earlier this month, Chris Giwa, founder of a rival faction in the NFF, seized control insisting he was elected president in a disputed vote back in August 2014 following a court ruling. However, FIFA recognises Amaju Pinnick (pictured) as the Federation’s chief and Gianni Infantino has warned the Nigerian authorities to expect a ban if they do not comply with the regulations over government inference.

Pinnick also has the backing of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) having just been named CAF’s first vice president to replace Ghana’s Kwesi Nyantakyi who was forced to step down over alleged bribery.

At a weekend symposium in Morocco to examine the poor displays of African teams at the World Cup, Pinnick was singled out for praise by CAF’s Third Vice President, Fouzi Lekja, who paid glowing tribute to Pinnick’s administration skills, saying his wealth of experience would help African football’s development.

“African football is lucky to have somebody as knowledgeable as Pinnick as one of its administrators and I hope he will bring the industry he has demonstrated in his FIFA duties to us,” said Lekja. “He is indeed worthy of his position as Africa’s number two football administrator.”

Meanwhile Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, has summoned an emergency meeting of stakeholders for a round-table summit to discuss the leadership crisis that has factionalised the NFF.

The letter acknowledged that the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling had thrown up a number of challenges for the administration of NFF in terms of who was the legal president of NFF amid “genuine concern for long term development of the sport of football in Nigeria.”

Contact the writer of this story at moc.llabtoofdlrowedisni@wahsraw.werdna