Governing Bodies
It’s a festival of birthdays at the NFF
It has been birthday galore at Nigeria’s football rulling house this weekend. Today 6 March is the birthday of the body’s chief spokesman, Ademola Olajire who shares the birthday with the legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Olajire, the longest serving head of communication of a sports federation in Nigeria is a product of the famous Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos.
In the previous day, two other personalities linked to the powerhouse of Nigerian football also had their birthdays.
They are Mike Itemuagbor, the chief marketer of the NFF who turned 6o while Julie Pinnick, the wife of the federation’s president, Amaju Pinnick also had her birthday.
The duo of Itemuagbor and Julie Pinnick share the birthday with Nigeria’s president with the longest tenure, Olusegun Obasanjo who clocked 85. Obasanjo had a combined tenure of 11 years spanning from 14 February 1976 to 30 September 1979 and from 29 May 1999 to 28 May 2007.
The two time president used football to mark the birthday celebration, a situation which not only points to the sport as the national sport in the country, but also as the obvious king of sports as well as the sport of kings.
In congratulating Mike Itemuagbor, the newly admitted member of the ‘Diamond League’ the President of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick described him as “a focused, irrepressible and indispensable friend of the NFF and Nigeria Football”, saying the Federation has enjoyed “an amazing working relationship” with the marketing titan.
“Chief Itemuagbor is a great man by every means and by every scale. He has remained a tower of strength and a source of tremendous resources for the good of Nigeria Football. He has put his influence, deep knowledge of the terrain and efficiency to good use to help the cause of the Nigeria game on several fronts.
“On this occasion of his 60th birthday anniversary, we wish him many happy returns, and pray that God will continue to expand his coast and continue to bless him with divine health in the years ahead.”
By dint of hard work, focus, diligence, a sense of enterprise and tireless exploration of opportunities and possibilities, Itemuagbor blazed a luminous trail in sports marketing, and has mentored dozens of individuals who have gone ahead to become chieftains of the turf on their own. His relationship with the NFF has expanded sports sponsorship, partnership and supportership for Nigeria’s football-ruling body over the past three decades, providing another channel of much-needed funding for the various National Teams.
Itemuagbor has been involved with the successful marketing of several local, international and global sporting events and programmes, including major championships and games staged in Nigeria (African Youth Championship Nigeria 1995; FIFA U20 World Cup Nigeria 1999; Africa Cup of Nations Ghana/Nigeria 2000; 8th All-Africa Games Nigeria 2003 and; FIFA U17 World Cup Nigeria 2009), and has also served on the marketing committee of the Confederation of African Football.
Also, General Secretary of the NFF, Dr Mohammed Sanusi congratulated the wife of the NFF President, Mrs Julie Pinnick as the latter added another year.
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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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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