The federal government has been urged to declare a state of emergency in Nigeria’s football and ensure that officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the League Management Company (LMC) who are neck-deep in corruption are prosecuted.
Former member of the NFF Committee on Football Reform, Ahmed Shuaibu-Gara Gombe, made the call, saying the strategic importance of football cannot be overemphasised, as it is the fulcrum of national unity and youth empowerment.
He said the numerous problems bedeviling Nigeria’s football system, mean no meaningful reform will be achieved without government intervention by declaring a state of emergency and disinfecting the sector of corruption.
He faulted the decision of League Management Company (LMC) to end the 2017/2018 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season with 14 matches left to play.
LEADERSHIP Sports recalls that an emergency joint consultative meeting of the 20 NPFL clubs and the LMC met in Abuja in August and declared the 2017/2018-league season concluded after 24 matches.
The decision meant that Lobi Stars of Makurdi, which was topping the league, was declared winner and none of the 20 NPFL clubs would be relegated to the lower league, while four would be promoted from the Nigeria National League (NNL) to bring the number of the NPFL Clubs for the 2018/19 season to 24.
But Gara said decision to declare Lobi Stars winner of the league with 14 matches still remaining and without relegatng clubs on the bottom table to lower division, can best be described as `match fixing and injustice.’
“This is the first time in the history of Nigeria football where the league was concluded with 14 matches to go. Few people just sat down and decided to award Lobi Stars FC the NPFL title, saying no club would go on relegation.
“If you can declare Lobi Stars, which was topping the league, a winner based on doctrine of necessity, why not have the same courage to relegate the clubs who were at bottom of the table to lower division? It was injustice and amounts to match fixing.
“Federal government should declare a state of emergence in football and harmonise both Ibrahim Galadima and Col Abdulmuminu Aminu’s committee reports for necessary action.
Nothing will change in Nigeria’s football if government doesn’t take action. People must go to jail to save our football from total mess,” he stated.
The former chairman of Gombe State FA, said he decided to resign his membership of NFF Reform Committee because he was not comfortable with most members of the committee, who also needed to be reformed; and that he was not convinced that the NFF is ready for meaningful reform.
“I am not really convinced that NFF is ready for reform, two members of the committee are currently under investigation by the Presidential Committee on Recovery of Public Property, and both the Executive arm and the National Assembly are not represented in the committee,” Gara added.
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