Infantino calls for stronger structures in Nigerian football

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called for stronger structures and development pathways in Nigerian football as the world football governing body engages the National Sports Commission and other stakeholders.

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Infantino made the call after meeting a Nigerian delegation led by National Sports Commission Chairman, Shehu Dikko, at the FIFA House in Zurich, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

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“I was pleased to sit down with a delegation from Nigeria, led by National Sports Commission Chairman Shehu Dikko, at the Home of FIFA in Zürich to hold important discussions and align on our vision for football in the country,” Infantino said in a post after the meeting.

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“We had a detailed talk on institutional, governance and developmental topics, as well as our ongoing collaborations. While stressing the need to create stronger structures and pathways to provide even more opportunities for the youth, we explored areas where FIFA can further support the growth of our beautiful game in this football-passionate country.”

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The meeting comes as Nigerian football begins a reform process following the mass resignation of the Nigeria Football Federation executive committee and President Bola Tinubu’s call for action to address what he described as “repeated failures”.

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According to the NFF, FIFA accepted the resignations of the federation’s principal officers and pledged to continue working with the Nigerian government, the NFF administration and the Confederation of African Football on a new roadmap for comprehensive reforms.

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The Nigerian delegation to Zurich included Dikko, NSC Director-General Bukola Olopade, former NFF President and former FIFA Council member Amaju Pinnick, Acting NFF General Secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme and NFF Director of Legal Services Okey Obi.

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The NFF said the meeting agreed that further engagements would be held to fine-tune a roadmap for reforms in the short, medium and long term, with the aim of producing an inclusive new NFF administration and creating a peaceful and stable environment for the development of the game.

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Dikko also assured stakeholders that the reform process would be thorough and conducted in accordance with relevant rules, regulations and statutes.

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The reform push follows concerns over the state of Nigerian football, including the performances of the national and youth teams and the failure of the senior men’s and women’s teams to qualify for their respective World Cups.

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The NFF has also faced scrutiny over governance and financial management, adding to pressure for structural changes within the federation.

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The NFF has put an interim administrative structure in place following the resignations of President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the Executive Committee.

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Ikpeme, who previously served as deputy general secretary, was endorsed to oversee the NFF Secretariat as interim general secretary, while former Director of Media and Communications Ademola Olajire was named interim deputy general secretary.

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