FIFA’s hammer may descend on Nigeria today following renewed crisis in the nation’s football administration after Thursday’s Jos High Court ruling that annulled the September 30 election of the Amaju Pinnick-led executive board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

CAF President, Issa Hayatou, who dropped the hint with Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Tammy Danagogo, could not hide his disappointment with Nigeria’s incorrigibility in the area of football administration. According to the CAF boss, the world football governing body was going to clamp down on Nigeria before Saturday’s Africa Women’s Championship final match between Nigeria and Cameroon in Namibia and that would have meant that the Super Falcons would not have been able to reclaim the AWC title which they won for a record seventh time at the weekend.

Hayatou’s words: “I had to plead passionately with FIFA President, Mr. Sepp Blatter, not to take action on Nigeria on Friday, because Nigeria was in the final of the African Women Championship and a ban on your country would have been bad for the competition and our sponsors. We all heard the news of the court ruling on Thursday, and the football world is angry with Nigeria. That is the truth.

“The FIFA letter that came to your Federation before the elections of September 30 was very clear about an automatic suspension should there be any interference with the political process, and after the elections went ahead, we all thought you had settled your issues.”

The CAF supremo, at a meeting that had Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Namibia, Ambassador Biodun Olorunfemi, Nigeria’s Deputy President of the CAF Appeal Board, Mazi Amanze Uchegbulam, CAF General Coordinator, Mr. Paul Bassey and CAF Media Committee Member, Aisha Falode in attendance, said there was no going back on suspension of Nigeria this week if football matters are not withdrawn from civil courts.

•Text courtesy of Daily Sun. Photo shows FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

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