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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

Infantino calls for stronger Nigerian football structures

From The Punch · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Ongoing story
  • FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged Nigeria to strengthen football structures and development pathways during talks with Nigerian sports officials in Zurich.
  • The meeting comes after the resignation of the Nigeria Football Federation’s executive leadership and calls for reforms.
  • FIFA, Nigeria’s government, the NFF and CAF plan further discussions on a roadmap for short-, medium- and long-term changes.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called for stronger structures and clearer development pathways in Nigerian football as the country begins a broad reform process.

Infantino met a Nigerian delegation led by National Sports Commission Chairman Shehu Dikko at FIFA headquarters in Zurich. He said the discussions covered institutional, governance and development issues, as well as existing cooperation between FIFA and Nigeria. “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.”

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.

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

The talks followed the mass resignation of the Nigeria Football Federation’s executive committee and President Bola Tinubu’s call for action over what he described as “repeated failures.” FIFA accepted the resignations of the federation’s principal officers and said it would continue working with the Nigerian government, the NFF and the Confederation of African Football on a reform roadmap.

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 focus on youth opportunities and institutional development.

The NFF said the parties would hold further meetings to refine reforms aimed at creating an inclusive new administration and a peaceful, stable environment for football. Dikko said the process would follow the relevant rules, regulations and statutes.

An interim administration is overseeing the NFF after President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and the other executive committee members resigned. The reform effort also follows concerns about national-team performances, failures to qualify for the men’s and women’s World Cups, and scrutiny of the federation’s governance and financial management.

repeated failures

— Bola TinubuThe Nigerian president used the phrase when calling for action on problems in Nigerian football.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch. 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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