Nigeria says recognises FIFA-approved football chief

ABUJA, Nigeria: Nigeria acknowledged a FIFA-approved appointee as the sole head of its national football federation on Monday, minutes before the world body was due to ban the country from international matches over political interference in filling the post.

FIFA had said it would suspend Nigeria at 11:00 GMT - thereby excluding the team from next month’s African Nations Cup qualifiers - over alleged state meddling in the running of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

The NFF voted in FIFA’s recognised leadership team, under Amaju Pinnick, in 2014. His long-standing rival Chris Giwa appealed against that result and, after a protracted legal battle, the High Court found in his favour in June.

Giwa was handed a five-year ban by FIFA for breaches of NFF statutes and the FIFA code of ethics in February 2017.But he appeared to have the backing of the Nigerian government.In a tweet posted at 10:38 GMT, a spokesman for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said Nigeria had “already conveyed to FIFA its firm position recognising Amaju Pinnick-led NFF as the current & only NFF Exco (executive committee).“The government would work with all stakeholders “to resolve (the) dispute in a timely manner,” he added.