Governing Bodies
FIVE OBSTACLES IN PINNICK’S PATH TO FIFA COUNCIL
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
About this time 41 years ago, Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo made history, becoming the first Nigerian to be elected into the FIFA Executive Committee which has in the current dispensation renamed FIFA Council.
Sports Village Square recalls that the CAF General Assembly held at the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos on Thursday 7 March 1980, the Nigerian candidate who had been a CAF Executive Committee member since 1972 had little challenge in winning on home soil.
But it was in Rabat, Morocco, the same city hosting this year’s CAF General Assembly, that Oyo lost his FIFA seat to Gambia’s Omar Sey in 1988.
Thirty three years on, can Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick regain what Oyo Orok lost to the Gambian?
Incidentally, another Gambian, Lamin Kaba Bajo is in the race against Amaju Pinnick. Both are seating presidents of their respective football associations.
Both are in contest with four others for two of the Anglophone’s FIFA Council slots. In all, Africa will have six slots including the position of a FIFA Vice President which automatically goes to the CAF president.
The FIFA Council consists of 37 members: one President, elected by the FIFA Congress; eight vice presidents, and 28 other members elected by member associations – each for a term of four years.
There are 13 Africans jostling for the six positions that are spread along linguistic divide – Anglophone, Francophone and the Arab/Portuguese/Spanish group.
Of the three groups which will each produce two winners, the Anglophone will be the most competitive as the competitors are almost half of the entire 13 in the race.
Apart from the Gambian, Pinnick also have a current seating FIFA Council member to contend with. He is Malawi FA president, Walter Nyamilandu.
The power of incumbency cannot be underestimated. Also in the race is Zambia’s Andrew Kamanga. Like Pinnick, Nyamilandu and Bajo, he is also the president of his country’s FA.
In the days leading to his reelection as Zambia FA president, he had bruises with government agencies which tried to foil his recent reelection.
Kamanga became chairman of the local Kabwe Warriors and was first elected to head Zambian football in 2016, replacing Kalusha Bwalya.
He is a serving member on the seven-man FIFA audits and compliance committee and therefore has international clout.
Other oppositions to Pinnick come from Kenya and Tanzania. They Nicholas Mwendwa who was reelected as Kenya FA president last October and Wallace Karia, the Tanzania FA chief. Both Mwenwa and Karia are serving second terms on their various countries.
Amaju Pinnick is hoping to become the third Nigerian to seat in FIFA Council after Oyo Orok Oyo (1980 -1988) and Amos Adamu (2006 -2010). Adamu defeated Ghana’s Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew in the 2006 and went in to replace Botswana’s Ismail Bhamji.
The election into the FIFA Council holds on Friday.
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
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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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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