By Mark Baber
September 10 – With Chris Giwa, who firmly believed he was the legitimate President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), having seemingly disappeared from the scene, the governance crisis at the top of Nigerian football may be entering a period of calm, prior to new elections, as FIFA has confirmed the NFF is not suspended from international football.
Confirmation of the improved state of affairs came in a FIFA statement and letter to the NFF sent on Tuesday in which the FIFA confirmed “that the conditions set out in FIFA’s letter of 3 September have been met and that, therefore, the NFF is not suspended.”
According to FIFA, “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.”
However, Nigeria aren’t completely out of the woods yet, as Giwa apparently filed a suit over the matter with the Court of Arbitration for Sport before he went misssing and FIFA has 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.”
Aminu Maigari now continues as president of the NFF, preparing for new elections, and Nigeria will be able to play in today’s crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in South Africa.
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