World football governing body FIFA says it is yet to reach a decision on the future of the Nigeria Football Federation following the resignation of its president, Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and other members of the Executive Committee.
In a letter addressed to the deputy general secretary of the NFF, Emmanuel Ikpeme, on Monday, FIFA, alongside the Confederation of African Football, said they are currently assessing the legal, governance, administrative and electoral implications of the developments within the NFF before deciding on the next steps.
Gusau led the mass resignations from the NFF on Thursday, August 27, following mounting scrutiny over the performances of Nigeria’s national and youth teams, particularly the failure of the senior men’s and women’s teams to qualify for their respective World Cups.
The resignations came just days before the planned September 27 NFF election, with the National Sports Commission stepping in to implement President Bola Tinubu’s call for action to address what he described as “repeated failures.”
A Nigerian delegation led by NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko subsequently met with FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, and other key officials at the FIFA House in Zurich, Switzerland, on September 1.
According to the letter on the issue, FIFA said it had not reached a decision despite the various communications it had received from stakeholders in Nigeria.
“We refer to the various communications recently received by FIFA and CAF concerning developments within the Nigeria Football Federation, including the notifications relating to the resignation of the NFF President, members of the Executive Committee and the General Secretary, as well as additional correspondence received from other football stakeholders in Nigeria,” FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer Elkhan Mammadov said in the letter.
