Nigerian Football
Pinnick Lauds Senate For Passing NFF Bill
President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, has praised the Senate of the Federal Republic for a marvelous job, after the Red Chamber passed the much –awaited NFF Bill following a third reading on Tuesday.
“Today will go down as one of the most remarkable in the history of the Nigeria Football Federation. I am very excited. With the passing of this Bill, we now await the very important assent of Mr. President. Once Mr. President gives assent, I assure you the NFF can achieve so much.
“I am not only thinking of what the present NFF administration can do; I am thinking of what subsequent NFF Boards after our tenure will be able to do, as the Bill is futuristic as well.
“For us, the passing of the NFF Bill means we can now make our programme even more robust and proceed apace with our vision of building a sustainable football culture for our dear country, through driving private sector involvement and investment,” Pinnick said.
The key highlights of the NFF Bill include legislations to ensure the entrenchment of the enabling environment for the development of football in Nigeria and to drive private sector participation and investment at all levels.
Fundamentally, the Bill has now domesticated the NFF Statutes, recognizing its sanctity, as approved by the NFF Congress and endorsed by FIFA as the supreme laws for governance of the functioning, organization, administration and operations of the Federation, as well as recognition of football by the Federal Government as a national asset entitled to special privileges and concessions to foster its growth at all levels.
The Bill further provides for special concessions and tax holidays by the Government to sponsors of football in Nigeria and has clear financial reporting provisions to further entrench transparency in the activities of the NFF, such as publishing of accounts annually.
These will set the NFF on a path of sustainable growth and ensure it operates within international best practices and as a business to strengthen the social and economic impact of football to the nation’s economy.
On Tuesday, on the floor of the Senate, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports and Youth Development, Senator Joseph Obinna Ogba, presented the report of his committee, which was followed by a clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill and a voice vote by the senators.
“All these court cases against football do not augur well for our country. It is important that we repeal the Act (2004) and enact the NFF Bill to sanitise football administration in this country,” Ogba said.
The former NFF Vice President went further: “It has become necessary to repeal the Extant Act. This is because it requires a lot of amendments to bring it into agreement with FIFA –required international best practices. It is to give it the required boost.
“The Bill has no financial implication because it is only seeking for a change in the name of the football body in order to achieve greater and better results in the future. It seeks to ensure that only those who are actually involved in competitive football matches are members of the Federation and not just organizations and establishments as contained in the Extant Act.
“Also, the Bill makes provision for the professional development of football at all levels in accordance with international best practices and to enable the credible participation of our teams in international competitions.
“The committee strongly believes that through this piece of legislation, the objectives as expressed in the long title of the Bill and explanatory memorandum will be achieved.”
In his contribution, Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki praised the committee for a great job.
“The message here is for us to bring Nigeria in line with best practices and best ways to administer football in the country. This has been an embarrassment over the years, but with the passage of this Bill, the grey areas will be taken care of.”
The country’s football ruling body was founded as Nigeria Football Association. However, at its Annual General Assembly in Makurdi, Benue State on July 24, 2008, Congress approved the change of name to Nigeria Football Federation.
The Act of Parliament 2004 as the legal instrument for administering the game in Nigeria replaced the Decree 101 of 1992.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 34 days to the match that will possibly shape Finidi George’s career as the new helmsman on the saddle of Super Eagles’ technical crew.
The Nigeria- South Africa will shape the Super Eagles’ destiny in the qualifying series for the World Cup 2026. Dropping of points in the match will be injurious as the Super Eagles began the race last November in the fashion of coal-propelled locomotive and are now third on the log of a six-team field.
What will put the Super Eagles back into reckoning will be the amassing of the six-points available in the home game with South Africa and the away duel with Benin Republic.
Encounters with South Africa have always evoke deep rooted passion and tension. Will an overtly self-effacing Finidi George be able to soak the looming tension?
Details of his contract is not known and may never been known as it is against the norm in Nigeria for the monetary value of footballers and managers to be revealed.
Also not known are the other members of his technical crew, whether imposed or nominated by the new manager.
Will he be solely responsible to draw up the list for the twin match with South Africa and Benin Republic?
Will he keep on with his current role at Enyimba which is at the cusp of possible 10th league title?
All these issues have to be straightened out today before we have another Paradise loss and have to be relegated to the spectators’ stands when the enlarged World Cup 2026 gets underway.
It is on record that Finidi George’s goal earned Nigeria their first berth at the World Cup. Will he repeat the deed by qualifying Nigeria to the World Cup as a manager?
Time and actions will tell.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
After two matches last March in which Nigeria Super Eagles won one and lost the other, the Nigeria Football Federation Finidi George has been judged as the right man for the vacant Super Eagles job.
He thus become the 41st person to occupy the position since the adhoc engagement of John Finch, former Fulham winger in 1949. According to a press release by the NFF, the board of the federation on Monday approved the recommendation of its technical development committee to appoint Finidi George as Head Coach of the Super Eagles.
George who belong to the Nigeria Golden Generation of Super Eagles of 1994 spent 20 months as assistant to José Santos Peseiro.
In his baptism as an interim national coach, his squad edged Ghana 2-1, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game. The loss to Mali was the first time Nigeria had been beaten by Mali since 1972.
As a national team player, George is best known as the player whose goal qualified Nigeria for the World Cup for the first time ever.
It was a goal scored against Algeria on 8 October 1993 – incidentally it was the 44th anniversary of Nigeria’s maiden international match played against Sierra Leone in 1949.
Finidi played 60 times for Nigeria and was Nigeria’s 40th scoring debutant when he came as a substitute in a 7-1 defeat of Burkina Faso on 27 July 1991.
He is a winner with the Super Eagles at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nation and featured at the World Cup at the USA ‘94 and France ’98.
Incidentally, his major task now is to qualify Nigeria to another World Cup in the USA and two other nations. The match is 35 days away from this Monday.
Enugu Rangers on Sunday beat Plateau United 2-0 to hold on at the top of the Nigeria Premier League. They extended their point haul to 57, two points ahead of their Oriental brothers, Enyimba who also beat Katsina United 1-0 to keep the chase for the title very hot.
Initial second placed team, Remo Stars dropped to the third position but still in contention for either the title, but at worse a continental ticket for next season.
Following Shooting Stars 2-0 defeat of Sunshine Stars in a South West derby, the top four positions of the are now held by the South East and South West as the league gets into its closing stage.
While Rangers and Enyimba are first and second at the moment, Remo Stars, though with an outstanding home game are third while their fellow westerners, Shooting Stars are fourth.
The weekend’s results:
Rivers United 2-0 Katsina United
Remo Stars 3-0 Niger Tornadoes
Doma United 0-0 Kwara United
Bendel Insurance 1-0 Heartland
Enugu Rangers 2-0 Plateau United
Shooting Stars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
Akwa United 3-0 Kano Pillars
Enyimba 1-0 Katsina United
Gombe United 3-2 Lobi Stars
Sporting Lagos 4-2 Abia Warriors
Finidi George begins race against time
BREAKING! Ngannou’s 15-month-old son dies
Brazil great Ronaldo selling stake in boyhood club Cruzeiro
SUPER EAGLES TO FACE ENGLAND IN PRE-WORLD CUP FRIENDLY
Apart from Okwaraji, Nigeria’s Other Field-Related Obituaries
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
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CAF Confederation Cup5 days agoNigeria’s Samson Adamu signs Algeria’s USM match forfeiture
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Boxing2 days agoNigeria sports minister set for ’bout’ with Bash Ali
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CAF Confederation Cup6 days agoBREAKING! CAF awards abandoned Confederation Cup semi-finals to Morocco’s RS Berkane
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African Games6 days agoBREAKING! Accra 2023 African Games Chieftain is dead
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Nigerian Football18 hours agoFinidi George becomes Nigeria’s 41st national coach
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Premier League6 days agoFive-Star Arsenal hammer Chelsea to move three points clear at the top
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Nigerian Football4 days agoRemo Stars close to winning their first Nigeria Premier League title
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