Governing Bodies
NFF NOT FOUNDED IN 1945, CLOCKS 87 TODAY
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Today is another anniversary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), but as in the past, it will pass unacknowledged. No thanks to the lack of documentation which has robbed Nigerian sports of major landmarks.
On the official crest of the NFF is the inscription: “Founded 1945”.
This is a fallacy that has long been held by the various regimes of the Nigerian football governing body. The situation has been like this for the simple reason – lack of record keeping and the dearth of research.
This is so in many African countries where proper documentation, record keeping and quest for social and historical researches are still huge challenges.
Before now, the true origin of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which until 2008 was known as Nigeria Football Association (NFA), had been foggy.
The foundation date of this association has for a long time been taken to be an unknown date in 1945, giving the impression that the body clocks 75 this year.
But no fact exists to back up this claim, except that the Governor’s Cup, which changed to Challenge Cup and now known as Aiteo Cup, began in 1945.
This is yet another historical fallacy in Nigerian football. The truth is that the maiden Governor’s Cup competition was not organised by the then NFA. It was the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) that ran the competition in its first three editions.
Entries for the Governor’s Cup were invited by the LDAFA in the advert placed in the Nigerian Daily Times of 30 July 1945.
This is further corroborated by a response to a critical editorial in the Daily Times edition of 1 November 1946, the LDAFA chairman, Frank G. Lloyd who wrote on 6 November 1946, that the Governor’s Cup presented in the previous year was in the custody of the LDAFA.
“This season, as an experiment, invitations were issued by the LDAFA to numerous provincial associations. It is also intended that the Nigerian Football Association shall shortly be re-organised in order that it may provide a more effective vehicle for the experience gained in Lagos to provincial association.”
This proves that as at November 1946, the NFA had not been revived. It was in 1947, when Captain Donald Holley became the LDAFA boss that the NFA was resuscitated, not in 1945. Captain Holley also emerged the chairman of the NFA. It was then the NFA began to organise the Governor’s Cup competition.
At the annual general meeting of the LDAFA in March 1948, Captain Holley announced the transfer of the Governor’s Cup to the NFA. The Nigerian Daily Times edition of Saturday November 8, 1947 announced the revival of the NFA which had been in doldrums for 13 years.
The newspaper did not give the specific date of the reconstitution of the body but announced that the NFA had assumed its function as the ruling authority for football in Nigeria.
An historical research has revealed that the governing body of football in Nigeria is older than the age it is claiming. Documented and verifiable evidences show that it was founded at 7pm on August 21, 1933 at 42 Broad Street, Lagos.
The building, which number has not changed, houses the Lagos Island Local Government Primary Health Clinic. In the 1930s, it was simply known as the Health Office.
The building in the 1930s up till the 1950s, according to newspaper reports of the era, hosted many football enthusiasts, especially the meetings of the LDAFA every February.
It was also in this house that the referees’ association used to have its meetings when Dr. Isaac Oladipo Oluwole, a football enthusiast and administrator, was the Medical Officer of Health at the council.
From 1931 to 1948, Dr. Oluwole was the general secretary of the LDAFA, a record 17 years by any sports association scribe in Nigeria. Before he died on 4 May 1953, at age 61, Dr. Oluwole had made the facilities of the Health Office available for meetings of the LDAFA.
The Health Office hosted many football-related meetings. But the most important, perhaps, was that of Monday, 21 August 1933 when at 7 in the evening some 30 football enthusiasts gathered. They were on the threshold of history. Earlier in the day, The Nigerian Daily Times (as the later year Daily Times was then known) had carried an announcement of the meeting.
It was to discuss the formation of the NFA and to pass its rules. It called on all interested people to attend. In the circulars sent out, it was suggested that provincial clubs might either arrange to send delegates to the meeting or appoint someone in Lagos who was familiar with conditions in their districts to represent them.
Among those that responded were officials of the registered 18 clubs in the Lagos Amateur Football League and a representative from Abeokuta. It was like re-creating the Tarven Manson meeting of 23 October 1863, which gave the world the oldest football association in London.
Nigeria was joining the League of Nations with football associations. Before the 21 August 1933 foundation date, some ground works had been done.
Proposal on the central football association was received with keen enthusiasm in Lagos where two meetings were held for the preliminary arrangements. The meetings were reported in The Nigerian Daily Times of Thursday 27 July 1933 under the caption: “Proposed Football Association.”
The theme was to establish an NFA whose functions were to include the organisation of matches, leagues, the formulation of cup rules and the management of football affairs generally.
The working group reportedly got in touch with the Football Association, London that promised valuable trophy for a competition.
The rules of the local organisation of the NFA were based on the recommendation of the Football Association. Clubs were advised to either become members by joining an affiliated district association or by directly affiliating and by payment of annual subscription of five shillings.
The districts were urged to form their associations and affiliate to the newly inaugurated Nigerian Football Association (NFA).
Four days later, the foundation of the new association was reported in the Nigerian Daily Times of 25 August 1933. The newspaper, later simply Daily Times, had its offices on the same Broad Street where the NFA was founded.
It was thanked for the assistance offered at the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association in 1934.
The newspaper’s link with the foundation of NFA probably had to do with the involvement of Sir Adeyemo Alakija, a prominent figure in the foundation of both organisations.
He was the founding chairman of board of Nigerian Printing and Publishing Company, publishers of Daily Times in June 1926 and also founding father of the NFA.
According to the newspaper report, on the NFA foundation day, the rules of the association as proposed by the working group were passed with some minor amendments. In order to secure a wide representation, circulars were sent to some principal provincial centres inviting the clubs to affiliate with the central body in Lagos.
All the registered clubs in Lagos were invited to become ‘parent clubs’. Many accepted on the spot and the nucleus of the NFA was established. The personnel were predominantly from Lagos. But it was hoped that the districts would speedily participate and nominate their representatives.
The new association appointed Mr. Henry A. Porter as its boss. He went by the title ‘President’.
He was also the founding chairman of the LDAFA in 1932 and secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD) Club. Other pioneer officials of the NFA were Vice Presidents: Adeyemo Alakija, Frederick Baron Mulford and Dr. Isaac Oladipo Oluwole. Mr. Wells was asked to act for Mr. Mead as secretary.
The Sunday Times of 4 October 1953 listed some other pioneers at the foundation meeting as Rev. J.K Macgregor, Evan Jones, Messrs Harry Benne, DL Kerr and J.W. Hallam.
The maiden Annual General Meeting of the NFA was fixed for January 1934. But it did not hold until Monday, 19 February. The Secretary, Mead, complained that the response to invitations issued to clubs and districts to become members was poor.
According to the report in Nigerian Daily Times of 22 February 1934, the secretary, read a report dealing with efforts to popularise the idea of a national association. Mead stated that principal centres had been contracted on the aims and objectives of the NFA. But it seemed it was not a popular idea.
The only definite acceptances of invitation to become district associations were from Abeokuta, Lagos Amateur and Lagos European Amateur Associations.
Ijebu Ode intended to inaugurate a district association and league in the following season. In Lagos, nine teams accepted to become ‘parent clubs.’ They were Afric, Olympics, Health, PWD, Muslims, Railway Institute, Marine, Spalding and UAC. Of all these, only Railway and Marines (NPA) existed in the 1990s.
The only definite refusal to become a parent club was from the Police, which argued that a national association was an approach towards professionalism.
At that time, even up to the 1950s, professional football was scornfully regarded. For instance, in an article in the Sunday Times of 22 September 1953, NFA Secretary, R.B. Allen, remarked that professional football was capable of corrupting players.
Apart from the newspapers’ account that reported the foundation of the NFA in 1933 and the reports of the maiden Annual General Meeting of February 1934, investigation into the origin of the NFA was taken to The FA in London to which newspapers of the era reported that the association was affiliated as an associate member.
Upon enquiry from the FA in England, David Berber, the Public Affairs Officer, in a response dated April 2, 1996, wrote in part:
“I can advise that the name of the Nigeria Football Association first appeared in the ‘FA Handbook’ for the season 1938-39, in the list of our affiliated associations. The NFA Secretary at that time was F.B Mulford, with a Lagos address.”
That prompted a visit to the london offices of The FA. From the archives of The FA in London, the minutes of The FA Council meeting held on Monday 4 June 1934, indicated the existence and admission of the NFA into membership.
The item 10 of the minutes reads: “The Nigerian Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of The Rules of The Association.”
The Rule 5 allowed associate membership, among other things, for British Empire associations at a subscription fee of five shillings. Another colonial football association admitted around the same time was Uganda in October 1936. CAF records show that Uganda FA was founded in 1924.
However, it was not until 1938 that the name “Nigerian Football Association” first appeared in The FA Handbook 1938/39 as an associate member.
The secretary then was FB Mulford and the address recorded against his name was P.O. Box 809, 14 McCarthy Street, Lagos. The relevant parts of the rules under which the NFA was admitted as an associate member read:
“The council (of The FA) shall have the power to admit into membership any Association within the British Empire…”
The Confederation of African Football has dismissed Yasin Osman Robleh, the Djiboutian official who headed its judicial bodies for the past six years, in a move aimed at restoring confidence in the organisation’s disciplinary processes.
According to reports from convergence sources, the decision was confirmed on Saturday by CAF Secretary General Veron Mosengo-Omba, bringing an abrupt end to Robleh’s tenure overseeing the confederation’s disciplinary and investigative committees since 2019.
Robleh’s position reportedly came under increasing pressure following the controversy surrounding sanctions imposed after the Africa Cup of Nations Final between Morocco and Senegal. The disciplinary decisions that followed the match sparked criticism from several quarters and placed CAF’s legal framework under intense scrutiny.
In response to the situation, CAF’s Executive Committee has appointed Togolese lawyer Cedric Egai, currently the confederation’s Director of Legal Affairs, as interim head of the judicial bodies.
Egai is expected to stabilise the organisation’s legal arm while CAF works toward appointing a permanent successor to Robleh.
Disciplinary Decisions Delayed
The leadership change has already affected ongoing disciplinary processes within the confederation. CAF’s disciplinary committee reportedly held hearings last Thursday on several cases, including the high-profile encounter involving Egypt’s Al Ahly and Morocco’s AS FAR.
However, decisions on those matters have been temporarily put on hold pending the confirmation of new leadership within the judicial structure.
Sources indicate that once a permanent successor is appointed, CAF will move swiftly to conclude outstanding disciplinary rulings affecting both clubs and national teams.
Restoring Confidence
The move is widely seen as part of CAF’s effort to restore confidence in its judicial system following weeks of controversy surrounding disciplinary decisions at major competitions.
Robleh’s departure closes a significant chapter in CAF’s legal administration, while Egai’s interim appointment signals a potential shift in leadership and governance at a critical time for African football.
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Governing Bodies
Countdown Rule Introduced To Crack Down on Time-Wasting in Substitutions and Spot Kicks
Global football’s law-making body, The International Football Association Board (IFAB), has approved a landmark package of reforms aimed at protecting effective playing time, reducing time-wasting and strengthening disciplinary oversight ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The decisions were taken at IFAB’s 140th Annual General Meeting (AGM), chaired by Mike Jones, President of the Football Association of Wales, during celebrations marking the FAW’s 150th anniversary.
The reforms, which will apply from the 2026/27 season and be implemented at the 2026 World Cup and other competitions, respond to growing calls across the football community for measures that preserve match tempo and reduce deliberate disruption.
Five-Second Countdown for Throw-Ins and Goal Kicks
Building on last season’s amendment preventing goalkeepers from holding the ball for excessive periods, IFAB has extended the countdown principle to throw-ins and goal kicks.
If a referee judges that a restart is being deliberately delayed, a visible five-second countdown will begin. Failure to put the ball back into play within that period will result in possession being awarded to the opposing team. In the case of a delayed goal kick, the sanction escalates to a corner kick for the opposition.
The measure is designed to eliminate a common time-management tactic frequently deployed late in matches.
Strict Timelines for Substitutions
To further streamline match flow, substituted players must leave the field within 10 seconds of the substitution board being displayed or the referee’s signal being given.
Players who exceed that limit must still exit immediately, but their replacement will not be allowed to enter until the next stoppage after one minute of running clock time has elapsed — effectively discouraging slow exits intended to run down the clock.
Mandatory One-Minute Absence After On-Field Treatment
Under another significant change, players who receive on-field medical assessment — or whose injury prompts a stoppage — must leave the pitch and remain off for at least one minute once play resumes.
The rule aims to curb tactical injury interruptions while still safeguarding genuine medical needs.
IFAB also approved further trials to assess goalkeeper-related tactical injury delays and explore deterrent options.
VAR Protocol Expanded to Include Second Yellow Cards
In a notable development for officiating, IFAB expanded the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol.
The VAR will now be permitted to review:
- Red cards resulting from a clearly incorrect second yellow card;
- Mistaken identity cases where the wrong player is cautioned or sent off;
- Clearly incorrectly awarded corner kicks, provided the review can be completed immediately without delaying the restart.
The move addresses longstanding criticism that second cautions — unlike straight red cards — were previously outside VAR review scope, despite their decisive impact on matches.
IFAB also confirmed continued trials of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and ongoing development of FIFA-led Football Video Support (FVS).
Amendments to the Laws of the Game 2026/27
The next edition of the Laws of the Game, effective 1 July 2026 (with early adoption permitted), will introduce further clarifications and adjustments:
- Law 3: Senior ‘A’ international friendlies may now allow up to eight substitutes, expandable to eleven by mutual agreement.
- Law 4: Non-dangerous equipment will be permitted if safely covered.
- Law 5: Referee body cameras (head- or chest-mounted) may be used at competition discretion, with organisers controlling footage.
- Law 8: Clarifies that a dropped ball will be awarded to the team that would likely have retained possession.
- Laws 10 & 14: Formal incorporation of guidance on accidental “double touch” penalty incidents.
- Law 12: Where advantage is played for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and a goal is scored, the offender will not be cautioned.
Focus on Discriminatory Behaviour and Player Protests
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, IFAB agreed that further consultation will be undertaken to develop tougher measures against discriminatory conduct.
The board will also examine scenarios where:
- Players leave the field collectively in protest of refereeing decisions;
- Players cover their mouths while confronting opponents — a practice viewed as undermining transparency.
A Forward-Looking Agenda
The AGM, attended by representatives from FIFA, The FA, the Scottish FA, the FA of Wales, the Irish FA and IFAB administration, signals what officials described as a decisive effort to modernise the sport.
With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, IFAB’s reforms represent one of the most comprehensive tempo-focused overhauls in recent years — an attempt to ensure that football remains faster, fairer and more resistant to manipulation of time.
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Governing Bodies
Infantino marks 10 years as FIFA President, hails reforms and global expansion of the game
Gianni Infantino has marked the 10th anniversary of his election as FIFA President by declaring that “we have brought football back to FIFA and FIFA back to football,” while thanking the organisation’s 211 member associations for their support over the past decade.
In a letter sent to the presidents of all 211 member associations, Infantino reflected on his election at the Extraordinary Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, on 26 February 2016, recalling that FIFA was facing a crisis that threatened its very existence at the time.
“By voting for me, the FIFA Congress chose to chart a new path forward built on reform, transparency and development,” he wrote. “I believe we have successfully brought football back to FIFA and FIFA back to football. And we have done so together.”
Infantino stressed that unity between FIFA and its Member Associations had been central to the organisation’s transformation.
“It is therefore with a great sense of unity that I would like to extend my deepest thanks for your work, your dedication and, of course, your unwavering support in making this possible and for your role in bringing FIFA back to football over the last 10 years,” he said.
Describing FIFA as “the glue that binds the footballing pyramid and the wider footballing ecosystem together,” Infantino underlined the importance of a strong and trusted governing body for the continued growth of the sport.
“A strong, trusted and unified FIFA is not only desirable, but also in fact necessary for our sport to continue to flourish,” he added. “Although we live in a world marked by division and conflict, football is still the great power that unites us all.”
Key achievements highlighted
In his message, the FIFA President outlined 11 major achievements since 2016, beginning with increased financial support to Member Associations through the FIFA Forward Programme. Introduced in 2016, funding to MAs has increased sevenfold, with associations empowered to determine how best to invest in football development within their territories.
He also pointed to the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, designed to ensure that every young player has the opportunity to develop regardless of financial background or geography, alongside enhanced capacity building in administration, finance, infrastructure, medical services, safeguarding and women’s leadership.
Infantino noted greater involvement of Member Associations in decision-making through FIFA Executive Summits and newly introduced Standing Committees, as well as reforms aimed at boosting transparency, including annual accounts delivered under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and clearer bidding processes for major tournaments.
On the field, the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in 2018 — now implemented in 83 Member Associations — was cited as a key step towards greater fairness. FIFA has since introduced VAR Light and Football Video Support to widen access to video technology. In 2024, all 211 MAs also unanimously backed a Global Stand Against Racism initiative.
Infantino further highlighted expanded playing opportunities across competitions. The FIFA World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams, while the FIFA Women’s World Cup grew to 32 teams in 2023 and is set to expand to 48 from 2031. More than 1,700 women’s development projects have been delivered across 204 Member Associations.
Youth competitions have also been broadened, including the expansion of the FIFA U-17 World Cup for both boys and girls and the introduction of a new festival-style FIFA U-15 Youth World Cup open to all 211 MAs.
The letter referenced relief measures during times of hardship, notably the COVID-19 Relief Plan, which made USD 1.5 billion available, emergency disaster funding via the FIFA Foundation, and a post-conflict recovery fund approved in December 2025 to support football communities affected by war.
At club level, Infantino highlighted the historic first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup planned for 2028, and the launch of annual intercontinental competitions and an expanded FIFA Club Benefits Programme.
Concluding his message, Infantino reiterated his gratitude to Member Associations for “keeping the best interests of football at heart,” expressing confidence that a united global football community would continue to drive the sport’s growth in the years ahead.
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