Infantino: FIFA ready to support Nigeria’s football reform drive

FIFA President Gianni Infantino says the world football governing body is working with Nigerian authorities on reforms aimed at strengthening the country’s football structures and creating more opportunities for young players.

Infantino disclosed this on Tuesday after meeting a Nigerian delegation led by National Sports Commission (NSC) Chairman Shehu Dikko at FIFA House in Zurich, Switzerland.

The meeting came days after the mass resignation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) leadership, including President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation’s Executive Committee.

Mr Infantino said the discussions focused on the institutional, governance and developmental challenges facing Nigerian football, as well as FIFA’s ongoing collaboration with the country.

“I was pleased to sit down with a delegation from 🇳🇬 Nigeria, led by National Sports Commission (NSC) Chairman Shehu Dikko, at the Home of FIFA in 🇨🇭 Zürich to hold important discussions and align on our vision for football in the country. 🤝” Infantino said in a post on his social media account.

“We had a detailed talk on institutional, governance and developmental topics, as well as our ongoing collaborations.”

He said the discussions also examined ways to strengthen Nigeria’s football structures and create more pathways for young players.

“While stressing the need to create stronger structures and pathways to provide even more opportunities for the youth, we explored areas where FIFA can further support the growth of our beautiful game in this football-passionate country,” the FIFA president said.

Infantino also wished Nigeria’s women’s youth teams success at the upcoming FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups.

“I also wished luck to @ng_superfalcons for the upcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and thanked the entire team for their time, ideas and positive intent to work together in taking Nigerian football forward. 👏” he added.

The meeting in Zurich also provided an opportunity for FIFA to formally engage with Nigerian football authorities following the leadership crisis that resulted in the mass resignations at the NFF.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the NFF said FIFA had accepted the resignations of the federation’s principal officers and pledged to continue engagements with the Nigerian government, the NFF administration and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on a roadmap for comprehensive reforms.

The NFF said the meeting agreed to continue discussions aimed at fine-tuning a roadmap covering the short, medium and long term, with the objective of producing a more inclusive NFF and creating a peaceful and stable environment for the development of Nigerian football.

Mr Dikko led the Nigerian delegation, which included NSC Director-General Bukola Olopade, former NFF President and ex-FIFA Council member Amaju Pinnick, Acting NFF General Secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme and NFF Director of Legal Services Okey Obi.

Mr Pinnick attended in his official capacity as Special Adviser to the CAF President and Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Men’s National Teams’ Competitions Committee.

CAF 2nd Vice President Kurt-Okraku and FIFA Director of Member Associations for Africa Gelson Fernandes were also present.

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Mr Dikko described the engagement as an important step towards restructuring Nigerian football.

“Mutual engagement among the National Sports Commission, the NFF administration and the Confederation of African Football is ongoing with FIFA on the comprehensive reforms of Nigeria football, including agreeing a roadmap going forward in accordance with the relevant rules, regulations and Statutes, and indeed there is no doubt Nigeria Football will emerge much better and properly-structured after the conclusion of this process,” he said.

The Zurich meeting followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive for comprehensive reforms of Nigerian football after a difficult period for the country’s national teams and football administration.

The president had directed that the reforms address governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability.

The NFF subsequently suspended the electoral process for its elective congress, which had been scheduled for September 27 in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

Mr Ikpeme was appointed to oversee the NFF Secretariat as Acting General Secretary, while Ademola Olajire was named Acting Deputy General Secretary.

The leadership crisis followed Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, ending their record of appearing at every edition of the women’s tournament since its inception in 1991.

With FIFA now directly engaged in the reform process, attention will turn to the roadmap for restructuring the NFF and the eventual emergence of a new leadership under an electoral process agreed by the relevant football authorities.