sports PREVIEWS AND NIGERIANS ABROAD September 5, 2014
Giwa Inaugurates Committee To Probe LMC, NRA …Insists FIFA will not ban Nigeria By SALIFU USMAN, Abuja
Factional president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ambassador Chris Giwa, has inaugurated a 4-man committee to investigate the culpability or otherwise of the members of League Management Committee (LMC) and the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) for suspending and disrupting week 26 matches of the 2013/2014 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season. Inaugurating the committee yesterday in Abuja, Giwa said the committee is not aiming at witch hunting or suspending anybody from football but to explore the reasons behind LMC and NRA decision to suspend league matches. “The committee is to investigate the reason why the executive council of Nigerian Referee Association (NRA) decided to withdraw from last weekend match. And to still investigate the reason why the LMC decided to asked the clubs not to participate in last weekend matches. “The reason for constituting this committee is not to witch hurt anybody but to report to the board of the Nigeria Football Federation a report that will guide us in future. I
LMC Chairman, Nduka Irabor
am somebody that believes that as a person you need to listen to people because may be as a board we have taken certain decision that led to that. The committee will help us to investigate that and report to us,’’ he said. The committee, chaired by Dr. Chris Ekong include Mr. O. O. Olaniyan, Alhaji Inuwa Umar as member and Mr Sunday Okayi as secretary. Giwa also inaugurated a 6-man committee to oversee the running of the Nigeria Professional Football League till the end of the season. The members of the committee are Victor Rumson Baribote,
Fatai Olaniyan, Chief Okey Ibe, Barrister Isaac Danladi, Tijani Babangida, Babangida Little and Tunji Babalola – Secretary. The federation had on Monday suspended the activities of the League Management Company (LMC) as organisers of the league on an account of sabotage and set up an interim board to take charge of remaining part of the season. Giwa, while appealing to Nigerians to remain calm over threat by FIFA to suspend Nigeria from all international football activities said Nigeria will escape the ban. “I want use this opportunity to tell Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm. The FIFA letter that got to us on Wednesday, we appreciate it, and I want to say that we are not enemies of Nigeria football. We love the game and we will do everything possible to make sure that game progress in this country. We are not enemies of this game and very that every soon the enemies of this game will be expose. “For the letter that came on Wednesday, I want to plea for calm and I am very sure Nigeria will not be suspended. Our intension for Nigeria football is for good and not for bad. Whatever we will do for this game to grow and for Nigerian people to be happy, we will do it
NFF Palaver: Faction Reinstate Maigari The embattled former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Aminu Maigari for the second time in less than a month has been returned to office as the president (NFF) by another faction. This follows a directive from the world football governing body, FIFA that “the NFF executive committee as it was composed on 25 August 2014, meaning under the presidency of Aminu Maigari, should then convene a first extraordinary general assembly as soon as possible to elect the members of the electoral committees and a second extraordinary
general assembly in order to proceed with the elections of the new NFF office-bearers.” The NFF factional congress held yesterday in Abuja, however, restored Maigari and his board to office. The Maigariled executive committee is now saddled with the responsibility of convening two general assembly meetings “in order to proceed with the elections of the new NFF office-bearers,” as directed by FIFA with a tentative date of September 25 now fixed for elective congress. The tentative date for the elective congress, it was learned, is in compliance with FIFA’s directive to ensure that
“in the shortest time possible allowed by law to proceed with the elections of new NFF office-bearers.”
Maigari
NFF Electoral Committee Members disown Biambo
By Salifu Usman, Abuja
Two members of the Amoni Biambo led electoral committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have dissociated themselves from the August 26 kangaroo election that declared Christopher Giwa as president of NFF. Mr Prince Elube and Professor Musa A A Garba in a statement jointly issued yesterday insisted that they were not part of the sham election held last week in Abuja. They the August 26 General Assembly of NFF was not meant for election, but rather to follow an earlier agreement that FIFA statues be adhere to in all its ramifications so that a new road map that will bring about free, fair and credible election is put in place. “We were surprise to our bone marrow when the chairman of the electoral committee, Amoni Abiambo walk into our hotel rooms at Bolton White and told us that election has been held. This was quite unfortunate because we taught we were walking with a man who is honourable. “As members of the electoral committee we ought to have been
Biambo
informed that election will take place on the said date but the chairman and one Mr Charles Nwokocha and Professor Kayode Omolamo just went ahead to mess up the good arrangement we have for the NFF elections. With our reputation we want to tell over 150 million football loving Nigerians that we were not part of that election,” they stated. They also posited that thing must be done in Nigeria football circle according to FIFA status, stressing that you cannot fight an organisation you are affiliated to.
NIGERIANS ABROAD
I Don’t Expect To Be Begged To Play For Nigeria– Uche Out of favour Super Eagles striker, Ikechukwu Uche, has reacted angrily to claims by the Super Eagles head coach, Stephen Keshi, that he wants to be begged to play for the country. Keshi and Uche fell out during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations following claims by the former that the latter failed to show complete commitment for the African champions. The 30-year-old Villareal striker has now put out a veiled response to Keshi’s comments that he is seeking “special treatment” in order to play for Nigeria. The former Real Zaragoza and Getafe man has also made it clear that he remains available to feature for Nigeria “when/if considered for selection.”
Ike Uche
“It’s an honour to play for Nigeria. I don’t expect to be begged or given special treatment. I’m available when/if considered for selection,” Uche said via his Twitter account on Wednesday.
Willingness to change is a strength, even if it is means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while. Chairman and CEO of General Electric
Jack Welch,