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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

Infantino Backs Nigeria’s Football Reform Plan as FIFA Accepts NFF Resignations

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • FIFA president Gianni Infantino met Nigerian sports and football officials in Zurich to discuss governance and development reforms.
  • FIFA accepted the resignations of key NFF officials and will continue work with Nigeria, the NFF and CAF on a reform roadmap.
  • FIFA is expected to establish a Normalisation Committee this week to guide short-, medium- and long-term changes.

Gianni Infantino has signaled FIFA’s support for Nigeria’s plan to overhaul football administration after meeting a Nigerian delegation at FIFA House in Zurich.

The delegation was led by National Sports Commission chairman Shehu Dikko and included NSC director-general Bukola Olopade, former NFF president Amaju Pinnick, acting NFF general secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme and NFF legal services director Okey Obi. CAF second vice president Kurt-Okraku and FIFA’s director of member associations for Africa, Gelson Fernandes, also attended.

I was pleased to sit down with a delegation from Nigeria, led by National Sports Commission (NSC) Chairman, Shehu Dikko, at the Home of FIFA in Zürich to hold important discussions and align on our vision for football in the country.

— Gianni InfantinoThe FIFA president described his meeting with Nigerian officials in Zurich.

“I was pleased to sit down with a delegation from Nigeria, led by National Sports Commission (NSC) 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 wrote on Instagram.

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.

— Gianni InfantinoInfantino outlined the subjects discussed and FIFA’s possible support for Nigeria.

He said the talks covered institutional, governance and development issues, as well as ongoing cooperation. Infantino also stressed the need for stronger structures and pathways that would create more opportunities for young people, while wishing Nigeria success at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The NFF said FIFA had accepted the resignations of the federation’s principal officers. It added that FIFA would continue discussions with the Nigerian government, the NFF administration and CAF to refine a roadmap for comprehensive reforms and the creation of an inclusive, stable new NFF. FIFA is expected to set up a Normalisation Committee this week.

Mutual engagement among the National Sports Commission, the NFF administration

— Shehu DikkoThe available text begins a quotation from Dikko about cooperation between Nigeria’s sports authorities and football federation, but does not provide the full statement.
About this summary

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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