Sports
Gaya Calls For Punitive Measures Over FIFA Sanction
A former lawmaker, Godfrey Gaya has urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure disciplinary measures are taken against erring officials following FIFA’s sanction on Nigeria for using an ineligible player.
Tidesports source gathered that FIFA had said NFF was to pay a fine of 6,000 Swiss Francs for fielding an ineligible Shehu Abdullahi against Algeria.
The November 10 match in Constantine was a Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying fixture, and it had ended 1-1.
The Super Eagles defender Abdullahi Shehu was to serve the automatic one-match suspension as a result of receiving a caution in two separate matches of the same competition.
Gaya, who was a former Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Sports, however told newsmen in Abuja that the development was embarrassing.
He said whoever was responsible should be sanctioned.
“This has happened repeatedly in NFF and sanctions have not been applied.
“It was said that FIFA informed NFF prior to the situation, but it did not take it into consideration.
“That match against Algeria was inconsequential and we could have even filed players that had not featured at all in any of the qualifiers.
“If we had not qualified before that match we would have lost our chance at the World Cup, in addition to the sanction.
“ We are supposed to be participating at the World Cup with our heads high, but now it appears as though we are not capable of running our football well or keeping records,’’ Gaya said.
The former House Committee chairman however blamed the NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, for the negligence.
“The General Secretary should know that this is his duty as number one administrator and the chief executive officer of the NFF.
“ If the letter which FIFA sent was not worked upon then that responsibility rests on his shoulders,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, the President of NFF, Amaju Pinnick, has through his twitter handle, @pinnickamaju, apologised for the error.
“It was a lack of diligence in and by one of our departments and we are ensuring that errors like this never happen again.
“On behalf of all at the NFF, I apologise,’’ the tweet read.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.