Governing Bodies

NIGERIAN LEAGUE 1985 TOP SCORER, OWUMI BECOMES LEAGUE’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Published

4 years ago

December 30, 2020

It is a movement from the football pitch to the board room as Nigerian football league top scorer for the 1985 season Davidson Owumi has been named as the new Chief Executive Officer of the League Management Company (LMC), the body saddled with the organisation of Nigeria’s Professional Football League.

According to a media release by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the president of the body, Amaju Pinnick has approved the LMC recommendation regarding Owumi’s appointment.

Before now, Owumi had been the General Manager of Enugu Rangers. He now succeeds Nduka Irabor, the founding chairman of the LMC who resigned some months ago.

Owumi, who has had a stellar career both as a player in and outside Nigeria and as a club administrator, is expected to resume office after the upcoming annual general meeting of the LMC.

“The LMC has started the new season on a positive note, putting their best foot forward with the telecast of the matches on NPFL.TV and some star games on NTA.

“The excitement is back and the spirit is right. It is the right time to bring in a class act like Owumi to help in steering the ship in the sterling direction that it has assumed,” NFF President Pinnick said on Wednesday.

Davidson Owumi is a titan in Nigeria domestic football as player and administrator of note. He started playing the game from his primary school days, and then played for Government College, Ughelli, NEPA FC and NNPC FC both of Warri, Flash Flamingoes, Bendel United, Sharks FC of Port Harcourt among others, and had stints in Greece, Cyprus, Qatar and Spain in his professional football odyssey. He also featured briefly for the Senior National Team.

The debonair Owumi emerged the League’s highest goal scorer in 1993, and three years later became Coach of 1977 Africa Cup Winners’ Cup champions, Rangers International FC of Enugu. Since then, he has served as Chairman of the club, served as MD/CEO of Warri Wolves, served as Board Member of Nigeria Premier League and as Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League.

“Owumi’s pedigree is impressive and we believe he will greatly complement the work that the LMC has been doing and help drive the new thinking, new vision and new direction. It was not an easy task to secure his release by the Enugu State Government to take up the LMC CEO’s position, and we quite understand. He is an asset to any establishment,” Pinnick added.

Governing Bodies

Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council

Published

4 hours ago

April 26, 2025

Kunle Solaja

Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.

The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.

Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.

He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.

An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.

He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.

“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”

Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.

“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.

He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.

“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.

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Governing Bodies

Ex-FIFA Council member and Mali football chief released from jail

Published

3 days ago

April 23, 2025

Kunle Solaja

A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.

Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.

He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.

The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.

He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.

Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.

While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.

-Reuters

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Governing Bodies

Nigeria Football Federation denies owing late national captain and coach, Chukwu

Published

2 weeks ago

April 14, 2025

Kunle Solaja

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.

Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.

The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.

Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.

“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.

“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”

Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.

“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”

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