The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) has given Chris Giwa and its factional NFF board until Monday, September 8 to vacate the Glass House, failure to do so will earn Nigeria an outright suspension.
Stating this in a signed letter by its Secretary-General, Jerome Valcke, the FIFA Emergency Committee “decided that should there still be persons claiming to be elected and occupying the offices on Monday, 8 September, 2014 at 8am Swiss time, the NFF will automatically be suspended with immediate effect until the said persons vacate the premises of the NFF and the General Secretary is able to come back and carry out his work without interference”.
In the letter, addressed to NFF scribe, Musa Amadu, the FIFA Emergency Committee also postponed today’s scheduled Elective Congress of the NFF and extended the tenure of the Aminu Maigari’s Executive Committee board till fresh elections are held.
“The NFF Executive Committee as it was composed on 25 August, 2014, meaning under the Presidency of Mr. Aminu Maigari, should then convene a first extraordinary general assembly as soon as possible to elect the members of the electoral committee and a second extraordinary general assembly in order to proceed with the elections of the new NFF office-bearers”.
The FIFA Emergency Committee, while warning Nigeria on the dire consequences of a suspension, said that “we would like to remind you that a suspension means no team from Nigeria of any sort (including clubs) can have any international sporting contact (art. 14, par. 3 of the FIFA Statutes). During the period of suspension, the NFF may therefore not be represented in any regional, continental or international competitions or in friendly matches.
“The suspension also means that neither the NFF nor any of its members or officials can benefit from any development programmes, courses or training from FIFA or CAF during the time of suspension”, wrote Valcke.
The FIFA ultimatum threatens Nigeria’s African Cup of Nations qualifying match next Wednesday, against South Africa in Cape Town.
Nigeria, the defending champions, are cleared to play their home opener against Republic of Congo on Saturday.
