Fifa accepts positive steps taken by NFF to resolve crisis

The country has avoided another ban by steps taken to dislodge the Chris Giwa-led faction and the return to office of Musa Amadu on Monday

There is cheering news for Nigerian football as Fifa has accepted the moves made to enforce its request for the Chris Giwa-led faction to quit the Glass House and allow the general secretary take charge of affairs pending when new elections are held.
This means that Nigeria will now be able to go ahead with Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier with South Africa. The Super Eagles already arrived in Cape Town on Monday.
In a release on its website on Tuesday, the football governing body said that its conditions have been met and it expects an extra-ordinary general assembly to sit and pave the way for the emergence of a legally constituted executive committee in earnest.
The statements reads: “Fifa has sent a letter today, 9 September, to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirming that the conditions set out in Fifa’s letter of 3 September have been met and that, therefore, the NFF is not suspended.
“The NFF had been set a deadline of 8 September to ensure that the persons claiming to have been elected to NFF positions vacated the association’s premises and to confirm that the NFF General Secretary could perform his work without interference.
“In the meantime, Fifa has received a letter from the NFF with these assurances and with an explanation of the positive steps taken to normalise the situation.
“Responding to the NFF today, Fifa outlined that it now expects the NFF Executive Committee to meet as soon as possible in order to convene an extraordinary general assembly to decide on the roadmap leading to the elections, which should be open to all persons complying with the NFF statutes and regulations.
“Fifa also emphasised that should the electoral process be affected by any interference or mishap, the case would be referred to the appropriate FIFA bodies and that FIFA would monitor the situation as the NFF progresses towards the elections,” Fifa said.
However, there might still be problems ahead as some officials in the faction led by Chris Giwa have filed a suit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport urging the Lausanne-based agency to stop Fifa from implementing any decisions against it.