Governing Bodies
There is nothing like ‘club owners’ in Nigeria, says Uchegbulam
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
As an offshoot of the meeting the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau had with representatives of clubs in the top echelon of the Nigerian league, veteran football administrator, Amanze Uchegbulam has declared that the references to the attendees of the meeting as ‘club owners’ is an aberration.
In a chat with the Sports Village Square, the former senior vice president of the NFF remarked that those who attended the meeting are better addressed as ‘club managers’ and not club owners.
The argument is that none of them own any club as most clubs at the top league in Nigeria are owned and run by government.
For instance in the season that ended in July, of the 20 NPFL clubs, only two are not owned by state governments.
The two exceptions are the Kunle Soname-owned Remo Stars and the Mountain of Fire and Miracle church owned MFM Football Club.
Following this, the representatives of the other clubs can not lay claim to being club owners but representatives of state governments or managers of such club.
It was in the 1980s that truly club owners existed in Nigeria when there were preponderance of privately and corporately ran clubs.
At the time, Bashorun MKO Abiola ran three football clubs – notably the Abiola Babes, Concord FC and ITT. Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu had the Iwuanyanwu Nationale while Chief Adeseun Ogundoyin owned Femo Scorpions once captained by Nigeria legendary goalkeeper, Peter Rufai.
There were private enterprise ran clubs like Julius Berger, Leventis United among others that can truly lay claims to have owners.
But that era came to an end when on 13 October 1987, the 12 privately owned clubs in Nigeria under the name “ Association of Proprietors of Football Clubs in Nigeria” (APFN) met at the palatial home of Abiola and wrote the then sports minister, Bayo Lawal to notify him that they would not be able to finance football at the end of the season except certain reforms were implemented.
In the end, the league champions, Leventis United and Challenge Cup winners, Abiola Babes were disbanded.
The clubs alleged poor financial returns occasioned by bad administration on the part of the then NFA which is today’s NFF.
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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