Sport

NFF Presidency: Pinnick Replaced by Ibrahim Gusau

By Web News 649


Ibrahim Gusau has been elected as the new president of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF.

Gusau emerged president at the 78th Annual General Assembly that took place in Benin, Edo State, on Friday.

He becomes the 40th president of the NFF, replacing Amaju Pinnick who recently completed his second term in office.

Only eight of the 11 aspirants were on the final ballot as Musa Amadu, Adam Mukhtar, and Suleiman Yahaya Kwande withdrew from the race.

In the first round of the election that had 11 aspirants on the ballot, Gusau polled 21 votes, Seyi Akinwumi had 12 votes and Shehu Dikko had six votes.

He would have been the outright winner of the election but he did not have the required 50 per cent +1 votes of the total 41 votes cast.

According to the NFF election rules, every candidate that had at least a vote could be a part of the runoff but Shehu Dikko, Seyi Akinwunmi and Abba Yola stepped down while Peterside Idah refused to step down.

After the runoff, Gusau polled 39 Votes to Idah’s one to emerge as the new NFF president.

Gusau who is the chairman of Zamfara State Football Association, was a member of the Pinnick-led NFF board when he held the position of chairman of club chairpersons.

Peterside Idah’s Post Election Speech

“Congratulations to Ibrahim Gusau. The truth is that I understand the politics. People make promises with hope. I came from outside to prove a point. I will be back next four years. The election cost me 15-20 million naira. We won’t stop until the Congress is expanded. When we expand the Congress it will be a level playing ground. The process today wasn’t bad. My life goes on. I have work to do at SuperSport. I am also a Pastor. I will be the NFF President. I will also be ready to offer my support to Gusau if he deems me worthy of such”.

Premium Times/Maxwell Oyekunle

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Sport

World Cup Miss: Senate Summons Dare, Pinnick

By Web News 486

The Nigerian Senate has summoned the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare over the vandalisation of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja by fans following the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

The upper chamber also invited Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation, and other agencies involved in the maintenance and security of the revamped stadium.

The lawmakers passed the resolution during the plenary session on Wednesday following a point of order raised by Michael Nnachi, a senator from Ebonyi.

Radio Nigeria had reported that after the final whistle of the World Cup playoff between Nigeria and Ghana, some fans stormed the pitch and damaged the facilities in the stadium.

The minister and NFF president are expected to brief the lawmakers on the violent fallout and why Super Eagles lost the mundial ticket to the Black Stars.

“Violent reaction by irate fans reportedly took place in the aftermath of Nigeria vs Ghana qualifier leading to vandalisation of facilities at the stadium and the unfortunate death of Zambian CAF official, Joseph Kabungo,” Senator Nnachi said.

“The national stadium was jam-packed with highly expectant Nigerian fans throughout the controversial match, and the alleged violent reaction of those fans to the outcome of this match has become a subject of local and international media criticism.

“A lot of valuable facilities at the stadium were destroyed, but the extent of the destruction is yet to be determined by the relevant government authority.

“There is no gainsaying that the destruction will cause the government of Nigeria several millions of naira to either replace or effect repairs.

“Apart from several unidentified football fans who were injured as a result of this incident, the death of Dr Joseph is a huge loss to the global football community.”

Supporting the motion, Abba Moro, a lawmaker from Benue State, said the senate must ensure that stadia across the country are well structured and possibly fitted with modern CCTV and other tracking devices, to deter such an incident from happening in the future.

“It is sad that Nigerians vented their anger and frustration on the physical stadium,” the former Minister of Internal Affairs, retorted.

The senate also mandated its committee on sports and youth development to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the failure of the Eagles to qualify for the World Cup in spite of overwhelming government support.

Frcn Abuja

Sport

Covid-19 Palliative: SWAN Hails NFF’s Transparency

By Web News 855

The President of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Mr Honour Sirawoo has applauded the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, on the transparent manner it disbursed the COVID-19 palliative package from FIFA, CAF and other sponsors.

Mr Sirawoo who expressed delight at the 11,580,000, eleven million, five hundred and eighty thousand Naira that was earmarked for SWAN said the NFF was meticulous in ensuring that all the stakeholders in Nigerian football were duly captured.

He further noted that the gesture will in no small way enhance the cordial working relationship between the NFF and other stakeholders especially SWAN, even as he urged all the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the grant.

“The leadership of the NFF has displayed a very high degree of transparency in the manner it handled the COVID-19 palliatives from its various sponsors by ensuring that all the stakeholders in the football development chain were captured.”

“We in SWAN are particularly happy because this recognition will go a long way in ameliorating the impact of the pandemic which has slowed down the economic activities of the country.”

“We thank the President of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick and members of his Board for this well-thought and timely gesture; our members have gone through various degrees of pains following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, we say thank you NFF” he declared.” 

The SWAN President also assured that he will ensure that all the members of the association in its 37 state chapters were given their due from the amount.”

He also urged the NFF to continue to work assiduously in its quest to enhance the development of football in the country “because football has remained one factor that has over the years held Nigerians together”.

Olaolu Fawole