Governing Bodies
FREEDOM AT LAST FOR NFF CHIEFTAINS OVER CORRUPTION CHARGES
Chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation, including its President, Amaju Pinnick, have been discharged and acquitted on all counts of alleged corruption charges in a case brought by the defunct Special Presidential Investigation Panel, SPIP.
The panel, headed by Okon Obono-Obla who is now on the run to avoid prosecution by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, ICPC had filed a 16 –count charge against Pinnick, Seyi Akinwunmi (1st Vice President), Shehu Dikko (2nd Vice President), Mohammed Sanusi (General Secretary) and Ahmed Yusuf (Executive Committee member) with wild claims of alleged corruption against the men, and even subjected them to extensive media trial at home and abroad.
Among the charges were misappropriation of the sums of $8.4million and N4billion, conflict of interest and non-declaration of assets.
At a point, now –fleeing Obono-Obla wrote to the Confederation of African Football, CAF twisting all the facts with regards to Nigeria’s participation in the CAF Congress of 2015.
On Tuesday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu dismissed the entire case with all 16 charges, and acquitted the NFF chieftains in consideration of the submission of the defence and the prosecution and in line with the rules of administration of criminal justice.
The clean bill is a confirmation of the position of the NFF on all swirling allegations of corruption against its officials. Nigeria’s supreme football –governing body has always insisted that its leaders were being victimized by persons who lost elections through the ballot and were seeking other means to upturn things at Glass House, or disgruntled individuals simply on a mission of vendetta.
Only last month, a motion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to remove the names of Pinnick and Sanusi from the witnesses’ category and add them to the list of accused persons in a case at the FCT High Court over the same $8.4million FIFA Grant was put on hold after the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation submitted that it was taking over the case with a view to ascertaining its validity, seeing that same persons were being charged spuriously in different courts and/or investigated by several agencies over the same allegations hewed out of petitions by the same individuals.
At the court on Tuesday, a counsel from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, which had taken over the case, said it could not proceed with the matter as the proof of evidence could not sustain the charges. NFF’s counsel adduced reasons why the charges could not be sustained:
1. The SPIP Investigation Report dated April 30, 2019 filed in the Honourable Court as Exhibit 7 in the Proof of Evidence and its Findings as contained in page 13 to 21 cleared the NFF officials of all allegations, based on the petition investigated by the Panel.
2. A review of the certified true copy of the NFF Bank account with the Central Bank of Nigeria found that there was no transaction of N4Billion or any amount whatsoever on November 3, 2018 as alleged in the charges filed by SPIP.
It was also found that the total inflow into the said NFF account for the whole of 2018 is far less than N1billion, confirming that the alleged N4billion never existed anywhere in the first instance.
In the circumstances, the Defence Counsel applied to the court to dismiss the charges and also discharge and acquit the NFF chieftains, since the proof of evidence could not sustain the charges. The AGF office counsel did not have any objection to this submission by the defence.
The judge then ruled that in view of these facts, she had no option than to discharge and acquit the defendants on all counts, wondering why the case was brought to the court in the first place.
Defence Counsel, Sani Katu, put the issues in perspective: “The matter was adjourned till today to allow time for investigation as to whether the defendants should be arraigned or not by the Office of the Attorney General which had taken over the matter.
The Office of the Attorney General went and investigated the matter and discovered that the proof of evidence could not sustain the charges.
On that basis, the Office of the AGF applied to withdraw the charges and the consequence is that the defendants should be discharged and acquitted from all 16 charges, to which the court agreed.”
Governing Bodies
African football set to benefit from newly launched CAF VAR Academy Programme
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/var-academy.webp)
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) is launching the CAF Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Academy for the 54 CAF Member Associations – a move that is aimed at elevating the standard of officiating in Africa.
Following CAF’s recent hosting of the most successful Africa Cup of Nations that saw the quality of officiating being singled out, CAF is building onto this success with the innovative academy set to be rolled out between September and October 2024.
The CAF VAR Academy will train Elite Referees across the continent for international competitions and national championships on the use of VAR and ensure that Africa continues to produce elite referees, as seen in recent times.
CAF Technical Development Director, Raul Chipenda said the VAR Academy Programme is a practical step by CAF to improve the standard of match officiating in Africa and ensure that African referees are equipped to compete against the best in the world.
“In the last few months, CAF has had a strong bias in upskilling match officials on the usage of VAR that is why at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, our officials were rated amongst the best. But it does not help having a small group, we need a big pool.
“Officiating plays a critical role in the development of African football, as evidently seen in the success of the recent AFCON. CAF actively oversees and supports a number of football development programmes and competitions across Africa and with that said, it is equally vital that match officials across Africa are adequately equipped with the latest officiating technology, means and education in order to remain on par with the existing pool of officials on the continent”, said Chipenda.
The CAF VAR Academy, which will be attended by elite referees across CAF’s 54 Member Associations will also be the first step in introducing VAR across the continent.
As part of its roll out programme, CAF will be embarking on a continental drive of conducting CAF VAR Academy workshops across its Zonal Unions in the next few months where 180 referees are expected to be reached.
CAF VAR ACADEMY 2024 WORKSHOP DATES:
ZONAL UNION DATE HOST NATION WAFU B 01 – 08 September Cote d’Ivoire COSAFA 11 – 19 September South Africa UNAF 22 – 27 September Egypt CECAFA 30 September – 05 October Tanzania WAFU A 12 – 17 October Senegal
-CAF
Governing Bodies
Nigeria Football Federation clocks 91 today, but they don’t believe in their age
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/gusau-and-NFF-logo.png)
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria football governing body, the NFF is 91 years today and just nine years to clock a century. Unfortunately, the body does not believe in its age, but hold on to a faulty belief that it is 79 years old, but with no actual birthday.
Founded 1945 is gleefully displayed on the crest of the NFF. Yet, it is not possible to pin point which date in 1945 the body was founded in 1945. Sports Village Square’s research unveils documented as well as verifiable evidences that what is today’s NFF was founded in Lagos as NFA on 21 August 1933.
No official of the NFF has come forward to defend their claim of the body being ‘founded in 1945’.
Their assumption emanates from the fact that the national cup competition, now called President Federation Cup, began in 1945 as ‘Governor’s Cup’.
This itself is a distortion of historical fact on Nigerian football as the first three editions of the competition was not even organised by the then NFA but by the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is now Lagos Football Association.
Verified archival materials have confirmed that the Nigerian football governing body was founded on Monday 21 August 1933 at house number 42, Broad Street Lagos. The building still exist, even with the same address.
Also, all the facts on the actual foundation date of the football governing body still exist and verifiable at the Nigeria National Archives at the University of Ibadan and also at The FA offices in London.
Despite overwhelming and documented evidences, it has been very hard, if not impossible, to get official recognition for the foundation date of the NFF.
The foundation meeting was held that day at the 42 Broad Street, in Lagos. The building which still exists today was then known as Health Office.
The founding officials were: Henry A. Porter as President while three Vice Presidents were appointed.
They were: Frederick Baron Mulford, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Dr. Isaac Oluwole. The Secretary/Treasurer was James Mead who worked at UAC in Lagos.
The report of the foundation was published in the 25 August 1933 edition of the Daily Times.
Their first Annual General Meeting, as reported by the Daily Times of February 22 1934, took place in Lagos on Monday 19 February 1934.
The meeting decided to seek affiliation with The FA in England. A check by the Sports Village Square at the offices of The FA in London was very revealing. The minutes of meeting of The FA on 4 June 1934 shows under item 10 that: “The Nigeria Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of the Rules of Association.”
The affiliation was also reported in the Nigerian Daily Times edition of 14 September 1934. Reputable FA in England could not have registered a non-existing body.
The various regimes of the NFA/NFF since 2003 have found it difficult to accept and effect the actual foundation date of the body. They are more concerned about a perceived global backlash they could receive for just realising the actual birth date of the Nigerian football governing body.
Regarding the assumption that the national competition started in 1945 and linking that to the foundation of the football governing body is an assumption based on fallacy.
Documented evidences discovered by Sports Village Square point to the fact that the Governor’s Cup was not a product of the then NFA but that of the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is today known as the Lagos FA, the oldest football association in Nigeria having been established in 1932 by Henry A. Potter, the same man who founded the NFA the following year.
One day, it shall come to pass when the true foundation date will be acknowledged.
Governing Bodies
CAF’s sole surviving former president, Ahmad attending Hayatou’s funeral
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ahmad.jpg)
There have been seven presidents of CAF since the continental body was created in 1957. Of the six former heads of the confederation, only Ahmad of Madagascar is alive.
As the sixth and just one-term president, Ahmad who recently completed his reduced ban of two years by FIFA/CAS is one of the dignitaries attending the funeral of Issa Hayatou in Cameroon this Friday.
Arrival of Issa Hayatou’s body from France
Funeral service for Hayatou at the Yaounde airport when the body arrived from Paris on Thursday
Long-time friend, Constant Omari arriving Yaounde for Hayatou’s funeral
Apart from other football chiefs – FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart, Patrice Motsepe, also in attendance is Congolese Constant Omari who had been a long term ally of Hayatou.
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