FIFA ban scares Fidelis Ilechukwu

By Taofeek Babalola

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) Football Club head coach Fidelis Ilechukwu has pleaded with football stakeholders in the country to find a lasting solution to the leadership crisis rocking the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to avoid FIFA’s ban, Sportinglife.ng reports.

The World football governing body, FIFA, has threatened to suspend Nigeria if the current crisis rocking the NFF is not quickly resolved.

Chris Giwa had controversially assumed office as NFF President following an ex-parte order issued to him by the Jos Federal High Court, with a recent Supreme Court ruling asking the parties to return to the lower court.

With the apex court’s ruling, Giwa then assumed office, replacing Amaju Pinnick, his rival in the battle for the control of Nigeria’s football body. Pinnick had represented the nation’s football leadership at the just-concluded 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Bothered by the developments in the nation’s football leadership, FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently threatened to ban Nigeria from all FIFA-organised events, if the confusion persisted without recourse to FIFA statutes.

Infantino specifically said that FIFA would not condone interference in the administration of the game, adding that the world body only recognises Pinnick as the NFF President.

In a chat with Sportinglife.ng, Ilechukwu said that a FIFA ban will cause a lot of damage to Nigerian football if the issue is left unresolved.

“For me as a coach, I am not happy with what is happening. All I want is for the people involved to make a way to find a lasting peace so that our players will not be badly affected. Majority of the youths in Nigeria are playing football as a means of livelihood and if anything happens through a FIFA ban, it will adversely affect their career,” Ilechukwu said to Sportinglife.ng.

He added: “I am scared because I know what the FIFA ban means and the damage it will bring to our football. If FIFA bans Nigeria from football activities, it means we would not have anything to do again as professionals. It will affect NPFL, NNL, Nationwide and all the national teams. The situation will not be okay for Nigerian football as a whole. When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. So the grass in this context includes coaches, players, referees etc.”