Football
Tension is
brewing in the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
following media revelations that the President of the body, Melvin Amaju
Pinnick has picked up a form to contest for a seat in the Executive Committee
of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Technical
Committee Chairman of the NFF, Barrister Chris Green, said in a chat with top
journalists from his base in Port Harcourt, that it was with shock that other
members of the Executive Committee of the NFF, received Amaju’s plan to contest
for a CAF Executive Committee seat as it was not discussed at any of their
meetings as has been the case in the past. “How come no member is aware, even
as we know that some lilly-livered members will say otherwise. We must be
careful not to put the cart before the horse”
Going down
memory lane Green declared, “When
Alhaji Aminu Maigari wanted to contest, he was cleared by the federation, the
Sports Ministry vide the Federal Government, the same process was also applied
when Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima wanted a seat in CAF, pronto for Dr Amos Adamu.
Even when Chief Segun Odegbami and Dr Orji Uzor sought to contest FIFA seat
they passed through similar processes, so nobody is permitted to jump the gun.”
He said he has
consulted widely and members of the NFF were unanimous that at a time like
this, when the body is in dire financial straits, what they need is not
politics to develop African football but politics to make Nigerian football
self sufficient and well funded. “We cannot let one of our best brains if not
the best to go and serve CAF when we need him here back home to make our system
better than we met it. Moreover, we are cruising now in the bid to be at the
Russia 2018 World Cup and we must be united to avoid unnecessary distortion
from outsiders.
Concluding his
opposition to the bid, Green said himself and other stakeholders represent a
constituency, which they report to regularly and no two people as represented
by the President and General Secretary can take decision without due
consultation. “We cannot be undermined and in some of these cases, the
government might through us decide to draft an outsider as Nigeria’s candidate
and we must follow suit, so I will advise that we thread softly.”
Leave your
comment.
0 comments:
Post a comment