Deadline looms as Nigeria face football ban

Nigeria have less than 24 hours to sort out the running of their football federation if they want to avoid the possibility of being banned by FIFA from international soccer, including exclusion from next month’s African Nations Cup qualifiers.

Soccer’s governing body issued the country with a final warning due to alleged state interference in the running of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF). FIFA’s recognised leadership were kicked out of the NFF and a rival faction has taken control.

FIFA do not accept third party interference in its member federations and said the NFF must be led by its elected president, voted in 2014. If that does not happen, FIFA said it would suspend Nigeria.

“The suspension would be lifted only once the NFF, under President Amaju Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, confirms that it has been given back effective control of the NFF and its offices,” said FIFA.

Pinnick’s long-standing rival Chris Giwa took control after a recent court case recognised him as the NFF president at the end of a protracted legal protest of the 2014 election results.

Giwa was handed a five-year ban by FIFA for breaches of the NFF statutes and the FIFA code of ethics in February last year. But he appears to have the backing of the Nigerian government, whose sports minister Solomon Dalung had a request to meet FIFA this week turned down.

He had included Giwa in his proposed list of delegates to travel to Zurich to see FIFA president Gianni Infantino – an idea FIFA rejected.