Sports
Ex-Footballers’ Plot Against NFF Gets Boost
Ex-Nigeria internationals and Players’ Union which has been clamouring for change in the administration of football in the country appears close to realising its goal as the signs of victory look evident, even before the elective congress of the Nigeria Football Federation billed for September, 2022.
It is aware that to attain the desired change in the administration of football in the country, the constitution of the board of the Nigeria Football Federation has to change.
To change the way the board is at present constituted, former players and other stakeholders went to court to halt the elective congress of the NFF, insisting that the NFF statute must be amended to allow for more and equitable representation of all stakeholders.
They eventually secured an interlocutory injunction from a High Court in Bayelsa State which stopped any further step towards holding the congress until the case before it was decided.
The move by the concerned stakeholders which resulted in a court injunction was almost turning into an irony as it provided an alibi for the NFF board. “They(board members) wanted to hide under the injunction, delay the congress and ultimately delay the election which is expected to usher in a new board,” a source revealed, adding that the board members held a zoom meeting and perfected their plan to stay put till February 2023.
“They wanted to go to Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast in January next year. That is why they were indifferent to the court injunction that stopped the congress.”
Even more uncomfortable for the board was what one observer termed as “the insurgency” within the NFF structure which saw 28 state FA Chairmen, traditionally deemed to be lackeys to the board, revolt by passing a vote of no confidence in the NFF leadership.
“That was an additional headache to the NFF,” our source said under anonymity. More astonishing was the fact that the state FA chairmen signed the resolution by appending not only their signatures but had their passport pictures affixed to their names and signatures. This jolted the NFF leadership but they kept their plans under wraps as they had their plan to stay longer than their tenure.
The dissident FA Chairmen were having a field day as they insisted that a change was inevitable for Nigerian football to move forward.
Reading the mood of the NFF board members, the players’ association applied a master stroke when it petitioned the presidency, intimating the President of the discrete disposition of the NFF towards the September election.
Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development reacted to the petition with a directive to the NFF to ensure that they don’t flout their own statutes and advised that the September election is held as scheduled.
“Their plan to hang on was bursted by President Buhari’s directive that they hold elections,” our source said, adding that “the court order under which they were hiding under will be vacated soon. I wonder where they will run to now.”
Apart from ensuring that the election is held, the President also directed that the NFF Statutes must be amended to accommodate other real football stakeholders who was either under represented or were not represented at all on the board.
We gathered that with President Buhari’s directive, the NFF has now been thrown off balance while the stakeholders will now have a say in football matters and be part of what happens next.
“For instance, they have reached an agreement that certain conditions must be respected before the elective congress. In legal terms it is called consent judgment,” our source said, even as he would not reveal the conditions although we gathered that it is about constitution of the board.
Given the new twist in the election saga, a member of the ex-footballers union, Harrison Jallah has confirmed that the process to vacate the court injunction was underway.
He said, “We are working on getting that order suspended or discontinued with completely, pending when the congress is held and the amendments we asked for are done. When we achieve that, then we can proceed to the elections. That is the position for now.”
Jallah continued, “There is a compromise now that we go and get the case out of the court which we are preparing to do now. We are looking at the whole of next week and I believe by the end of next week we will be through with that procedure.”
He further informed us what their petition to the presidency contained. “We informed that under the present statutes every member has equal status in the assembly but a particular member twerked the statute to suit his interest. For instance, there are 44 members in the congress and when you have 37 FA Chairmen, in every election they will have a majority. As I speak to you, they are 11 on the board out of 15 members. The other 4 are taken by the clubs that represent the leagues.”
Government’s subtle moves, we gathered were deliberate in order not to be seen as interfering in the internal affairs of the football governing. This, Jallah concurred. “All the government has done is simply telling football stakeholders, ‘no, we don’t want this under representation in the assembly to continue and the football family to go and resolve your differences. But in all you do, the September date for the election remains sacrosanct.”
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.