Director General of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Bukola Olopade, has confirmed that world football governing body FIFA has formally accepted the resignations of key officials of the Nigeria Football Federation ,NFF, reports Completesports.com.
Former NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and other members of the federation’s Executive Committee tendered their resignations last week amid ongoing efforts to reform Nigerian football.
NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko and Olopade led Nigeria’s delegation to a meeting with senior FIFA officials in Zurich, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
Also present at the meeting were former NFF President and ex-FIFA Council member Amaju Pinnick; NFF Acting General Secretary Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme; and the federation’s Director of Legal Services, Okey Obi.
Pinnick attended the meeting in his capacity as Special Adviser to the CAF President and Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Men’s National Teams Competitions Committee.
Read Also:NFF President Gusau, General Secretary Sanusi, Other Board Members Resign
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CAF Second Vice President Kurt Okraku and FIFA Director of Member Associations for Africa, Gelson Fernandes, were also in attendance.
Olopade Hails Productive Talks
Olopade described the discussions with FIFA officials as productive, stressing that engagements among all relevant stakeholders would continue until an acceptable framework for the proposed reforms is agreed.
“We had a very good engagement with FIFA in Zurich concerning the current state of Nigerian football following recent mass resignations of members of the NFF Board,” Olopade wrote on X.
“FIFA has now accepted the resignations of the former NFF executives and have pledged to continue engagements with the Sports Commission to ensure Nigeria achieves President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed hope reforms to reset the country’s football for better global performance
“Nigeria football is rising again.”
The latest development is expected to pave the way for further discussions between FIFA, the NSC, CAF and the NFF administration as stakeholders work towards establishing a comprehensive reform framework for Nigerian football.
By Adeboye Amosu
