Sports
Nigeria Loses FIFA Exco Seat
Former Secretary-General of Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Alhaji Sani Toro, says all hopes are not lost with the failure of Nigeria to retain a place on the FIFA Executive Committee.
Tidesports source reports that Nigeria’s candidate, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, on Wednesday lost in the elections held at the CAF 33rd Ordinary General Assembly in Khartoum, Sudan.
Galadima had placed last with five votes in the five-man race to fill two of Africa’s four slots on the FIFA Executive Committee, after the seats became vacant following a four-year tenure.
Algeria’s Mohamed Raouraoua won the race with 39 votes, and he is joined on the committee by Ivorien Jacques Anouma who scored 35 votes and is returning to his seat.
Seychelles’ Suketu Patel secured 12 votes, just as South Africa’s Danny Jordann also lost out after he managed only 10 votes, while former Zambian national captain Kalusha Bwalya had earlier quit the race.
Nigeria’s Amos Adamu who had been on the FIFA seat was not up for re-election after his suspension from all football-related activities by FIFA following corruption allegations.
Toro, while reacting to the election results, said the outcome was not unexpected in view of the manner of events which preceded the elections.
“Those of us who know some of them at FIFA had expected it to go this way. I never even expected Galadima to get five votes, I was thinking of something like two or three votes.
“The situation was made bad by the confusion over whether Adamu would win his appeal, and the delay this brought about in campaigning for Galadima really affected us,’’ he said.
Toro who is a CAF Match Commissioner however refused to blame the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) for the situation that led to Galadima’s loss.
“I don’t think we should blame the NFA. The association had nominated Adamu before his problem with FIFA, and when this came up, it sent Galadima’s name as a replacement.
“There were several instructions here and there later, which created a confusion, and in that situation it was difficult to get Galadima’s campaign on the move,’’ he said.
The former Bauchi State Youths and Sports Commissioner however believes all hopes are not yet lost, saying the important issue now should be how to get the CAF hierarchy to do Nigeria’s bidding.
“There is still hope. We have always supported CAF in all its activities, and CAF President Issa Hayatou is fully aware of this. So, all of them there at CAF need to be told that Nigeria deserves the seat.
“Though CAF’s Article 22 Sub-Section 12 stipulate that if there is a vacancy on its Executive Committee, a replacement should come from the zone whose member is out, but we still needs to convince others that Nigeria deserves it first in view of its contributions,’’ he said.
Toro however urged suspended CAF Executive Committee member Amos Adamu to do a more careful study of his case against the world football governing body at the Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS).
“We need to do a more careful study of the situation in order to move forward, and Adamu has to do a re-think on his stance.
“He should look again at his case, and if he knows he’s not going to win, he should just allow Galadima to go on to replace him so that Nigeria will not lose the CAF seat also.
“We have already lost one, we should not lose two, and Nigeria as a country is greater than any individual,’’ he said.
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CAFCL : Rivers United Arrives DR Congo
Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt contingent, comprising players, technical crew, backroom staff, and officials, depart the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State on Wednesday, bound for Kinshasa, DR Congo.
The team is set to face FC Les Aigles du Congo in the first-round first-leg match of the CAF Champions League.
This was contained in a press release signed by the media officer of the club, Charles Mayuku and made available to Tidesports on Wednesday.
He said that the highly anticipated match is scheduled to take place at the 80,000-capacity Kinshasa-Complexe Omnisports Stade des Martyrs on morrow with kickoff slated for 3:30pm.
According to the statement the encounter marks the first-ever meeting between both sides in any competition, adding that an air of excitement and unpredictability to the fixture.
“As the Pride of Nigeria embarks on this crucial journey, the team is determined to return with a decent result that will set them up favorably for the second leg on Sunday, 28th September” the statement said.
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FIFA rankings: S’Eagles drop Position, remain sixth in Africa
The new rankings, released via FIFA’s official X handle on Thursday, reflect the team’s continued struggles under Coach Eric Chelle amid a stuttering 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
This marks a second consecutive decline after the Nigerian side dropped from 43rd to 44th in August on the back of poor outings in recent international matches.
Despite Nigeria’s setback, several African teams made progress. Morocco remains the continent’s highest-ranked side, sitting 11th in the world after winning eight of their last nine matches. Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire complete Africa’s top five.
Lesotho slipped to 153rd place, while Benin Republic, Nigeria’s upcoming opponent, climbed to 93rd. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in June, rose to 55th, strengthening their bid for World Cup qualification.
Zimbabwe had the biggest slide down the ranking table, dropping nine places to 125th position in the world.
The rankings highlight Nigeria’s struggle to regain form on the global stage as key rivals continue to surge ahead.
Similarly, the Super Falcons of Nigeria remain 36th best in the world], while the Spanish female national team replaced the USA at the top of the women’s ranking.
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