 |
|
Nigeria Senate
Seal
|
Media reports indicate the senate
yesterday rose to stop the crisis that had bedeviled the nation’s football
sector especially the succession problem in the Nigeria Football Federation,
NFF, as it finally fixed tenure for the NFF executives.
Vanguard continues the story:
This was contained in the Repeal and
Re-enactment Bill 2014 that seeks to legalize the NFF and reduce government’s
interference in football that was passed into law.
Speaking after the passage of the
bill, Chairman, Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Adamu Gumba explained that
the new law would stop friction in the succession problem as there has been fixed
tenure for the NFF executives.
He said, “It is a bill that is
trying to improve on the Nigerian Football Association Act. It seeks to improve
on that particular act, to make sure that most of the provisions of the law
comply with FIFA regulations.
“We hear FIFA each time it
intervenes in Nigeria’s football administration that it is going to sanction
national federation. We have received similar threats this year. That happens
when some regulations of FIFA seem to be violated by individual federation.”
“In Nigeria, they observed that we
were violating these regulations and they threatened to sanction us. So this
particular bill is trying to remove those areas, to make sure that our football
administrators now try as much as possible to work in accordance with the
governing regulations and laws of FIFA.
“In trying to streamline our
activities, to make sure that we work hand in hand because we are recognized
and a voluntary member of that particular organization, then we must comply
with the regulations governing football worldwide.”
Senator Gumba further explained that
the bill was handled by the NFA alongside the Senate Committee on Sports,
adding that the relevant stakeholders in the football sector made input after
looking at the various provisions of the law and agreed with what the senate
proposed.
On the fixing of tenure for NFF
executives, he said that that was done after looking at the peculiar nature of
Nigeria where even the initial four years given, some members of the football
family wouldn’t want to allow the new executive to last for four years.
According to him, “They would try as
much as possible to oust them and if that is the case, pegging the tenure to
four years will probably improve on what is happening, then whoever comes in to
fight or look for your seat will know that there is a law making provision for
you to last for two years or eight years at least on that particular position
and they will allow you.
“What we have been seeing is that
the moment the executive or board completes the first four years, then, there
will be turmoil in the football family. There would be trouble, there would be
confusion, there would be court actions and counter court actions and so, these
are what we are trying to reduce.
“I understand Sepp Blatter is there
now as FIFA president for many years and Isa Hayoutu is there for many years.
If the Nigerian football family decides to fix their own the way we have
presented in the bill, Nigerians will see. I think that we should start
somewhere than to jump into another area that we cannot be able to sustain.
That is the position.”
He said that the senate would not
delve into the selection or appointment of foreign coaches or technical
advisers, adding that the primary concern of the red chamber was to try as much
as possible to provide the law, while individual members of the football family
try to also comply.
“Nigerians are quite interested in litigation,
you may make a perfect law and they may decide not to obey the law but the
courts are there, the arbitration panels are there to enforce the decisions or
the provisions of the law because in football, FIFA frowns at going to court
but there are Football Arbitration Panels that can sit down to reconcile,
adjudge, adjudicate on matters where you have differences as members of the
football family.”
No comments:
Post a Comment