COMMUNIQUE OF THE EXTRA-ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION

COMMUNIQUE OF THE EXTRA-ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION HELD IN WARRI, DELTA STATE ON SATURDAY, 20TH SEPTEMBER, 2014

1 The General Assembly expressed deep and heartfelt appreciation of the entire Nigeria Football family to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR for his personal and administration’s love and tremendous support for the NFF, the National Teams and Nigeria Football as a whole.

2 Ahead of the upcoming elections into the NFF Executive Committee, Congress composed a new NFF Electoral Committee thus: Barr. Samson Ebomhe; Barr. M. T. Ahmed; Mr. Adamu Sani Osmond; Mr. Sadiq Yusuf Zaria; Reverend Onyeaghala Obioma; Engineer Adeola Adelanwa; Alh. Sani Dahiru Yakassai; Mrs. Sarah Jumoke Adebisi and Barr. Awwal Abdullahi. The Secretary is Barr. Musa Amadu.

3 Ahead of the upcoming elections into the NFF Executive Committee, Congress composed a new NFF Electoral Appeals Committee thus: Barr. Okey Ajunwa; Mr. Dotun Coker and; Mallam Sani Mohammed. Mr. Victor Nwangwu and Mr. Bala Garba are substitute Members. The Secretary is Dr. Mohammed Sanusi.

4 The General Assembly unanimously approved Tuesday, 30th September, 2014 as date for the 2014 NFF Elective Congress, and Warri, Delta State as venue. The Congress passed a resolution that a credible and transparent electoral process is non-negotiable.

5 The Congress unanimously affirmed the FIFA directive that the 2014 Elective Congress shall be composed of only delegates that attended the November 2013 Annual General Assembly in Warri.

6 Congress unanimously expressed high praise and admiration for the courage and resilience of the NFF Executive Committee led by Alhaji Aminu Maigari, in the face of the recent crisis that threatened the fabric of Nigeria Football .

7 Congress heaped encomiums in the Nigeria Media for standing by the truth and clearly supporting what is just in the thick of the recent crisis.

8 The General Assembly was full of praise for the Delta State Government, the Representative of the Minister/Chairman, National Sports Commission, (Dr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba), the Representative of the Director General, National Sports Commission (Mr. Alhassan Saleh Yakmut), the Delta State Sports Commission, Chairmen of the Sports Committees of the National Assembly, CAF Members, Etubom Paul Bassey and Ms. Aisha Falode, former NFF Board Member, Dr. Peter Singabele and former NFF General Secretary, Amb. Fanny Amun, MON for their tremendous supports towards the success of the Extra-Ordinary General Assembly.

SIGNED:
SIR E.C. CHUKWUEMEKA

CHAIRMAN, COMMUNIQUE DRAFTING COMMITTEE

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IK Uche seals valuable point: Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Villarreal

Super-sub Ikechukwu Uche came off the bench to a seal a point for Villarreal as they drew 1-1 with Borussia Monchengladbach in their opening Europa League Group A encounter.

The striker was thrown on just after the hour mark and scored with his first touch of the game to cancel out Patrick Herrmann’s first half opener, meaning both sides left with a share of the spoils.
Denis Cheryshev went agonisingly close to giving Marcelino’s men the lead in the 20th minute, scampering through on goal before being denied brilliantly by a sprawling Yann Sommer.

Merely a minute later, however, Herrmann drew first blood, firing home with his left foot after being teed up by good work from 21-year-old Branimir Hrgota on the edge of the penalty area.

The former could have doubled Gladbach’s lead just before the half-time break after Sergio Asenjo failed to clear a deflected effort from Max Kruse. With the goalkeeper at his mercy, the Swedish forward could only place a finish onto the ankle of the Spanish shot-stopper, which in turn looped wide.

Chances were few and far between in the second half, before Cheryshev spurned another gilt-edged opportunity just before the hour mark. Cani picks out Moi Gomez at the back post brilliantly, who cushioned a pass in towards the penalty spot for the Russian – who blasted horribly over from close range.

On 65 minutes, Luciano Vietto saw a goal ruled out for offside, as the hosts rode their luck, but substitute Ikechukwu Uche was to have his say three minutes later.

Poking home a Manu Trigueros through ball with his first touch, the Nigerian striker’s goal was his only contribution, as a clash with Sommer left him unable to continue immediately after his finish restored parity.

As the contest edged into stoppage time, the linesman seemed to flag to award Gladbach a penalty for handball by Moi Gomez – but referee Ivan Kruzliak overturned his fellow official despite being unsighted.

The Yellow Submarine will be very pleased with a point, profiting from the mere 20 seconds Uche spent on the field of play, but missed chances from Hrgota will leave Favre’s men wondering quite how they didn’t manage to kill the contest off earlier.

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Arsenal line up free agent Joseph Yobo to end defensive woes

Arsenal are believed to be weighing up a move for free agent Joseph Yobo as Arsene Wenger looks to plug the holes in his defence.

The Gunners’ frail squad was exposed this week as they had to field youngster Hector Bellerin in Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, with Mathieu Debuchy, Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers all unavailable through injury and illness.

And with Debuchy set to be sidelined for some weeks, Wenger is looking to bolster his squad with a free agent.

Yobo is the latest name to be linked with the Emirates according to the Mirror, who is currently without club.

Former Everton man Yobo was released by Turkish outfit Fenerbahce in the summer, despite being tipped to make his loan move to Norwich permanent.

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Nigeria to return to Abuja National Stadium

All things being equal, Nigeria will play their remaining Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches at the 60,000 capacity National Stadium in Abuja, the National Sports Commission has ordered.

This means that they will no longer play in Calabar, where they have called home for the past three years following their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Congo on September 6.

The UJ Esuene Stadium had been an impregnable fortress for the Super Eagles until their first ever defeat there by the Central Africans.  

Goal learnt that the Nigeria Football Federation has been directed to inform the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that the remaining Super Eagles matches in the Afcon qualifiers will now be played in Abuja.

The NFF is currently undergoing a lean purse and has been depending largely on the benevolence of the Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke who has single-handedly bankrolled the camping exercise of the Super Eagles including the players and coaches’ feeding and accommodation every time the team has a home match to play.

Therefore, the NFF is trying to get the NSC to rescind its decision claiming that it doesn’t have money to prosecute Super Eagles games in Abuja and because Abuja fans don’t turn up for games that much as well as the security challenges to confront.

Goal learnt that the NSC irked by the negative publicity generated by the complaints of the bad pitch in Calabar, has directed the NFF to relocate all the Super Eagles matches to Abuja National stadium that boast of very good pitch.

But the NFF are not comfortable with the order as they feel that the cost of executing matches in Abuja will be too weighty on them and the apathy of the fans in Abuja towards watching games at the stadium unlike in Calabar where the stadium is usually full even though it is much smaller.

Undaunted by the directive of the NSC, the Cross Rivers State government has begun the process of getting the stadium back to shape even as the NFF tries to convince the NSC to allow the Super Eagles to play Sudan in Calabar in October.

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