As the impasse in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) continues, Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung has ruled out any FIFA ban against Nigeria, saying there is no reason for that.
He said the country is also a victim of the current impasse in the federation, which he blamed on football stakeholders not adhering to their own rules and laws of the land.
Tracing the history of the imbroglio, Dalung said the problems dates back to 2006 when the stakeholders removed Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, then Chairman of Nigeria Football Association (NFA), adding that the ghost of that action has continued to haunt the country.
As a minister he said he inherited the problem and that concerted efforts were made to resolve the matter outside the court.
Dalung noted sadly that the ego and failure of parties to come yield ground again took the matter back to court after initial mediation by government.
He said: “I have been wondering when people talk about FIFA’s ban. In the first place I don’t know why FIFA will even ban Nigeria. If members of the FIFA family are fighting and they went to court, and even dragged the government of Nigeria to court.
“We spent so much money in sending council to go to court and at the end of the day judgment emerged from there, and FIFA will leave those who are fighting and come and ban Nigeria or accuse Nigeria of interference, I’m yet to comprehend this line of argument.
“Yes I know that there are those who are campaigning for Nigeria to be banned. Even those who are beneficiaries of football legacies, campaigning for FIFA to ban Nigeria. I don’t think FIFA would just wake up and ban Nigeria. I think FIFA will look at the issues, what has happened, what role did Nigerian government play. I don’t think FIFA will ban Nigeria because as far as I’m concerned, the Nigeria government has not done anything to interfere in Nigeria football, rather we were dragged into the issues as a result of their inability to manage their domestic affairs ” he said.
