Former Nigerian international Sylvanus Okpala has urged Nigerians not to worry about the outcome of the planned meeting between FIFA officials and stakeholders in Nigerian football, saying there is no reason for the country to fear the outcome.
The meeting is scheduled to hold in Abuja as FIFA officials continue their engagement with key stakeholders following the recent resignation of several members of the Nigeria Football Federation board and its General Secretary.
Okpala dismissed concerns that FIFA’s fact finding mission could result in a negative outcome for Nigeria. He argued that the recent resignations were largely driven by pressure from the football community, which had become increasingly unhappy with the state of the game.
According to him, Nigerians had demanded changes because the country’s football was struggling, and those calls eventually led to the affected officials stepping down.
Okpala said FIFA’s interest should also be centred on finding ways to improve Nigerian football rather than creating unnecessary tension over the resignations.
“Nigeria has nothing to fear. The mass resignation of members of the NFF board and the General Secretary was preceded by massive pressure from the football public,” he said.
He added that FIFA could advise Nigeria on how to improve its football administration but could not take over the running of the game.
“Our football was going down and Nigerians cried out and asked that those managing their football should resign, which they did. I don’t think FIFA has issues with that because they too want the game to grow and they cannot come here and run it for us. They can only advise us on what to do,” Okpala said.
The former international also noted that officials in other countries had resigned after failing to meet expectations, arguing that Nigeria’s situation should not be treated as an unusual case.
While Okpala expressed confidence ahead of the FIFA meeting, Chairman of the Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reform Initiative, Prince Harrison Jalla, has raised concerns about the representation of the Players Union at the meeting.
Jalla is calling for six representatives of the Players Union to be included, matching the number of slots allocated to the chairmen of the State Football Associations.
He said allowing the State Football Association chairmen to have twice the representation of the Players Union could create another imbalance in the administration of Nigerian football at a time when the country is expected to begin a new chapter.
Jalla said the invitation letter dated September 9 allocated six places to the State Football Association chairmen, while only three slots were given to the Players Union.
He described the arrangement as an anomaly that should be addressed before the meeting takes place.
Jalla maintained that any effort to reform Nigerian football must begin with a fair and balanced structure, warning against creating arrangements that could affect the composition of the NFF Congress and its standing committees in the future.
He also pointed to the NFF 2010 Statutes, as amended, which he said clearly recognise the five federating units as equal.
With FIFA officials expected in Abuja for the crucial engagement, attention will now turn to how the stakeholders address the concerns surrounding the recent changes within the NFF and the structure of Nigerian football going forward.
