Nigeria may escape FIFA's hammer

[Richard Akindele]

Nigeria may have finally escaped FIFA's hammer following the resolution of the protracted Nigerian Football Association (NFA) crisis on Tuesday, the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported on Wednesday.

The crisis which erupted over the re-election of Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima in December 2005 in Kano was resolved by FIFA and CAF executive member Amos Adamu.

A marathon meeting attended by football stakeholders and NFA board members was able to agree to end the crisis in the interest of football development in the country.

Adamu, who had sustained his effort at resolving the impasse for two weeks, said FIFA would no longer discuss Nigeria's crisis at its congress slated for June in Germany.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter had warned that Nigeria risked being suspended from the soccer family if the crisis was not resolved before the World Cup in Germany.

In a communique at the end of the meeting the warring NFA factions agreed to convene an extra-ordinary congress between June 18-20 in Abuja to seal the peace pact.

"We have agreed that this decision is irrevocable while FIFA and CAF will be informed of this development," it said.

On the outcome of the meeting, Galadima said that it was a victory to NFA and Nigerians who had patiently awaited the resolution of the impasse.

"We have resolved to move Nigeria's football forward because the country is greater than an individual," Adamu said, adding: "We have also agreed to forget the past and forgive each other. We thank Dr Amos Adamu for his relentless efforts and the sports minister for his patience over the issue."

Source: Xinhua