It became clear last night that the Nigeria Football Federation may not endorse the candidature of former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu for Fifa Presidency.
Kalu is in the news for the office of Fifa president which Sepp Blatter will vacate soon.
Former Wimbledon star John Fashanu is among those campaigning for Kalu to contest the election.
Kalu must first be endorsed by the Nigeria Football Federation before he can vie for the seat.
But the federation must also consider section one of article 13 of the FIFA statutes on such election.
The section spells out conditions a candidate for the office of FIFA President must meet. The article puts it this way:
The candidate shall have played an active role in association football (as a board member, committee member, referee and assistant referee, coach, trainer and any other person responsible for technical, medical or administrative matters in FIFA, a Confederation, Association, League or Club or as a player) for two of the last five years before being proposed as a candidate (cf. art. 24 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes).
It is against this background that the Nigeria Football Federation, even if it wants to endorse Kalu, may not be able to do so as the amiable football -loving former governor may not meet the above requirements.
Amaju Pinnick, President of the Federation said on television Monday that the federation would meet to discuss Kalu’s interest in FIFA presidency. A member of the federation said last night that their hands were tied by the statutory requirements to endorse Kalu. Another member of the federation also advised that the former Governor ‘’should be wary of people who would want to defraud him’’.
No comments:
Post a Comment