FIFA letter to NFF over purported election
Situation of the Nigeria Football Federation
Dear General Secretary,
We refer to the enclosed reports we have received from members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Association of Professional Footballers of Nigeria, as well as to information relayed by the media with regard to the events linked to the general assembly of the NFF on 26 August 2014.
We understand from the sequence of events that the general assembly duly convened by the NFF Executive Committee could not start as planned because some NFF members, including the president, were being held by security forces for questioning.
We also note that, despite these absences, some members decided to hold an impromptu ‘elective general assembly’ while the delegates were supposed to be deciding on a new roadmap leading to elections for a new NFF Executive Committee.
According to the enclosed reports, 39 out of 44 of the delegates then resolved to hold an ad hoc general assembly during which they decided that elections would be organised for 4 September 2014 and elected new members to the electoral committees.
Finally, we have learnt that the persons who claim to have been elected during the so-called ‘elective general assembly’ have come to the NFF offices claiming to be the legitimate president and members of the NFF. It also appears that the Ministry of Sports has recognised them.
As stated previously, FIFA deems the general assembly to be the highest decision-making body of any football association and that its decisions are consequently binding, provided that these comply with the member association’s own statutes.
According to the facts reported to us, it appears that the vast majority of the NFF members decided to set the elections for 4 September 2014 and we consider this decision to be valid since it was taken by the highest decision-making body (the NFF general assembly) and conforms to what has been previously reported to FIFA.
As a consequence, we will not recognise the outcome of the abovementioned elections and should there still be persons claiming to have been elected and occupying the NFF offices at midnight on Monday 1 September 2014, we will bring the case to the appropriate FIFA body for sanctions, which may include the suspension of the NFF.
We ask you to inform all parties concerned accordingly and we thank you in advance for keeping us informed of any developments in the situation. In particular, we would like you to confirm that the date of 4 September 2014 will be met because the timing seems very short.
Yours sincerely,
FIFA
Jérôme Valcke
