Nigerian football has been given a grace period of four additional days to either compel Chris Giwa to vacate office and step down as the helmsman of the NFF or face suspension.
The earlier deadline given to Giwa and members of his executive committee to move out of the Glass House was midnight on Monday, which failed to achieve the desired result.
Yesterday Sahara Sports contacted a top shot of the NFF, who is not on Giwa’s side and he confirmed that all concerned stakeholders are waiting for the world governing body to take an action that would compel the sports minister (who’s backing Giwa) to respect the earlier agreed roadmap for the elections.
In a released statement on its website, FIFA said “Given the current circumstances, the FIFA Emergency Committee has decided to set a new deadline of 8 September 2014 at 08.00 CET. Should the new deadline not be respected, the NFF will be automatically suspended until the board claiming to be elected vacates the premises of the NFF and the NFF General Secretary is able to perform his work without interference.
It furthered “The NFF Executive Committee as it was composed on 25 August 2014, meaning under the presidency of Aminu Maigari, should then convene as soon as possible a first extraordinary general assembly to elect the members of the electoral committee and a second extraordinary general assembly in the shortest time possible allowed by law in order to proceed with the elections of new NFF office-bearers.”
A power tussle for leadership of the NFF has been going on since the end of the World Cup finals and has seen former president Maigari ousted, impeached on corruption allegations, and reinstated.
FIFA suspended Nigeria from international competition in July on the grounds of “government interference” in the running of its affairs but later lifted the ban.
Giwa’s disputed appointment has led to a league boycott by referees, clubs, and players last weekend with the referees body vowing to continue until Giwa steps down and Nigeria football is rescued from its present mess.