FIFA Accepts NFF Officials’ Resignations, Begins Talks on Comprehensive Football Reforms

World football governing body FIFA has accepted the mass resignations of principal officers of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and commenced discussions with Nigerian authorities and football stakeholders on a comprehensive reform roadmap for the country’s football.

The development followed a meeting on Tuesday at FIFA House in Zurich, Switzerland, involving representatives of FIFA, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the NFF administration.

The meeting agreed that further engagements would continue among the stakeholders to fine-tune a roadmap for implementing reforms in Nigerian football over the short, medium and long term.

The proposed reforms are expected to promote greater inclusiveness within the NFF while creating a peaceful, stable and enabling environment for the administration and development of the game.

The stakeholders also agreed that the process should ultimately produce a more inclusive and properly structured NFF capable of delivering improved results both on and off the pitch.

The Nigerian delegation was led by the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko, and included NSC Director-General Bukola Olopade, former NFF President and ex-FIFA Council Member Amaju Pinnick, NFF Acting General Secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme and the federation’s Director of Legal Services, Okey Obi.

Pinnick attended the meeting in his official capacity as Special Adviser to the CAF President and Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Men’s National Teams’ Competitions Committee.

CAF 2nd Vice President Kurt-Okraku and FIFA Director of Member Associations for Africa, Gelson Fernandes, were also present at the meeting.

Dikko said discussions between the NSC, NFF administration, CAF and FIFA were ongoing as stakeholders worked towards comprehensive reforms in line with the applicable rules, regulations and statutes.

He expressed confidence that the reform process would ultimately strengthen Nigerian football and provide a better-structured system for its future development.

“Mutual engagement among the National Sports Commission, the NFF administration and the Confederation of African Football is ongoing with FIFA on the comprehensive reforms of Nigeria football,” Dikko said.

He added that the process would ensure the development of an agreed roadmap while complying with relevant football regulations and statutes.

According to him, Nigerian football would emerge “much better and properly-structured” once the reform process is concluded.

The meeting represents another major step in ongoing efforts to address administrative and structural challenges within Nigerian football and establish a framework for sustainable development.