FIFA Gives Nigeria 6 Days To Hand Over NFF Presidency To Pinnick Or Risk Ban

World football governing body FIFA has given the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) until Monday, 20th August to hand back the leadership of the country’s football body to embattled President Amaju Pinnick.

In a statement by its media office, on Tuesday, FIFA said Nigeria would be suspended from international football activities if Pinnick is not handed the NFF Presidency on or before Monday next week.

According to the statement, FIFA says Pinnick is the only recognized President of the NFF.

“In line with art. 16 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes, the Bureau of the FIFA Council decided that if by Monday, 20 August 2018, at 12:00 (CET), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) offices are not handed back to the legitimate NFF executive committee under President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, who was duly elected on 30 September 2014, the NFF will be suspended with immediate effect for contravening art. 14 par. 1 i) and art. 19, as well as art. 14 par. 1 a) of the FIFA Statutes,” the statement read.

“The suspension would be lifted only once the NFF, under President Amaju Melvin Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, confirms that it has been given back effective control of the NFF and its offices.”

Chris Giwa has been locked in a leadership tussle with the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board, after an order from a Jos High Court stopped the election which brought Pinnick to office on September 30, 2014 in Warri, Delta State.

The glass house secretariat of the NFF has been occupied recently at different times by both the Giwa and Pinnick factions of the federation’s Congress.

But FIFA has since backed the Pinnick led faction as the authentic leadership of the NFF.

FIFA however said whatever decision it would take would not affect the Falconets, Nigeria’s under-20 women team, who are currently in France participating in the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Falconets will face Spain in the quarter finals on Thursday, four days to the deadline.