Nigeria Faces FIFA Ban

In the aftermath of Nigeria’s departure from the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the coach of the team resigned his post in a gruelling circumstance which left the football body, NFF in disunity whether he should be retained or done away with.

The football house has been hit further with a court injunction barring the present board of the NFF from further administrating football matters in the country as they have a case to answer in a high court in Plateau state, Nigeria.

The suit brought against the president of the football house by the owner of premier league side Nembe City, Mrs. Ebiakpo Rumson Baribote has placed a restraining order on the board and thus an acting Secretary General, Lawrence Katiken has been appointed.

These act of the court and the complainant contradicts FIFA statutes on the administration of football in any country and could likely earn the African champions a ban from international if nothing is done.

Nigerian football is no stranger to government interference; from the days of Decree 101 which empowered Government with decision making powers to this present day, the country has had to grapple with court suits from disgruntled individuals and sports personalities.

A football house can have problems within itself and members of which can be taken to the appropriate body recognised by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

FIFA has never hidden its displeasure with the act of taking football matters to civil courts and it considers it as part of government interference in the running of football.

With this recent development, Nigeria could be banned of the case is not reversed in time for the forthcoming General elections in August.

It is rumoured that Aminu Maigari has been arrested in the early hours of Friday.

The NFF president was accosted by members of security agencies within the premises of Sunday Dankaro Football house.