Nigeria: Appeals Committee winds up whilst Senate passes new bill

Nigerian Football Federation logo

By Mark Baber
November 14 – There were major developments in the Nigerian football governance crisis on Thursday as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Appeals Committee completed its hearings into the validity of the September 30 Executive Committee elections whilst the Nigerian government passed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Bill 2014 in an apparent attempt to bring sanity to football administration in the country.

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Racism row over Roma team in Czech Republic

FC Decin racism poster

By Mark Baber
November 13 – The issue of a Roma football club based in Decin in the Czech Republic, whom five league opponents have refused to play, has highlighted the racism and discrimination faced by the Roma communities in Eastern Europe and illustrates the obstacles football administrators need to overcome to ensure equal access and opportunities for all.

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Hayatou insists AFCON show must go on, without Morocco

Issa Hayatou7

By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – African football chief Issa Hayatou says acceding to Morocco’s request to postpone the Africa Cup of Nations would have been “to sign our death warrant” as yet another country added to the crisis by saying it couldn’t afford to step in and stage the event.

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Russian Premier League signs ICSS for security help

Russian premier league logo

November 12 – Amid persistent crowd disturbances and allegations of corruption that do little to enhance the country’s staging of the 2018 World Cup, the Russian Football Premier League is the latest partner to be signed up by the Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) to protect the country’s top division from emerging threats to safety, security and integrity.

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Morocco is latest Ebola casualty as CAF expels them from AFCON 2015

Issa Hayatou7

By Andrew Warshaw
November 11 – As widely anticipated, Morocco has been expelled from the forthcoming African Cup of Nations after refusing to host the competition on schedule due to fears over the spread of Ebola. Morocco had repeatedly asked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to delay or postpone the three-week competition that is due to kick off in January fearing that fans and players might spread the virus even though the three west African nations devastated by Ebola are unlikely to qualify.

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