Governing Bodies
NFF CELEBRATES EMEKA INYAMA AT 60
The Nigeria Football Federation has congratulated a former Member of its Board, Emeka Inyama who marked his milestone 60th birthday anniversary on Wednesday.
General Secretary of the Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, minced no words in declaring that Inyama, a pastor who also holds a chieftaincy title, excelled as a sports journalist before venturing into administration where he has also over the decades become a reference point, deserved encomiums on his big day.
“High Chief Emeka Inyama has ventured into, braced the challenges therein and emerged as an exemplary personality in several fields of endeavour. We congratulate him on his 60th birthday and pray that he will spend many more years on earth in good health and in prosperity,” Sanusi remarked.
An energetic, eloquent and ebullient personality, Emeka Inyama, born in Lagos on 26th August 1960, started off as a journalist with the Nigerian Statesman and also worked with Community Concord and Champion Newspapers, after which he blazed the trail with kindred spirits Fan Ndubuoke and Onyebuchi Abia to launch Nigeria’s first all-sports newspaper, Sportslink.
The debonair Inyama would go ahead to prove his mettle in sports marketing, sports administration and political engineering, showing wisdom, sobriety, sapience and admirable intellectual heft along the way.
He has served meritoriously as Chairman of the Abia State Football Association, Commissioner for Sports in Abia State, Board Member of the Nigeria Football Federation (during which he was also Chairman of the Nigeria National League and at different times headed the Marketing and Media and Publicity sub-committees) and Member of the CAF Media Committee. He also served as General Manager (Marketing) of the Local Organising Committee for 8th All-Africa Games Nigeria 2003 and Chairman, Marketing for the FIFA U17 World Cup Nigeria 2009.
Presently, he is the Chairman of Nigeria Professional Football League club, Abia Warriors FC, and also Chairman of the PDP Umuahia South Stakeholders Forum.
Today, the exemplary ‘Lagos Boy’ of the years of yore serves assiduously, diligently and conscientiously in the Lord’s vineyard as a pastor of the Christian Church.
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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