PFAN President’s Proposed Restructuring Of The NFF Board For Sustainable Growth And Development Of Nigeria Football

Before going into the next election of the NFF Executive Committee scheduled for September 2022, the President of the Nigeria Players Union, Tijani Babangida (MON) has called for a restructuring of the NFF Executive Committee to be more inclusive representing all the key important stakeholders of football on equal representation for the promotion of justice, peace, equity and fair play

According to the president, ” the current Structure of the NFF board is deficient on so many fronts. The current Structure dominated by the Chairmen of the state Football Association to the detriment of other important stakeholders does not portray the game of Football as the most democratic game in the world.

The President of the players union said that the current dominance of the Exco by the Football Association Chairmen has its roots in the faulty nature of the composition and distribution of votes amongst the five distinct members of the NFF according to the Provisions of article 10:1 of the NFF Statutes in the Congress of the NFF where only the FA’s has 37 votes out of the 44 votes must be addressed if we must move forward and make progress

There is no doubt that the current structure of the Congress and the Board has continuously promoted and encouraged election malpractices such as vote-buying with its negative effects on the quality of members of the board which robs quality decisions making and good governance

Going forward the President is canvassing for a structure that is less cumbersome, less expensive, more democratic, transparent and more inclusive of all major stakeholders based on equality.

What I mean is that we should adopt a System and structure where the Board is composed of representatives of only duly and democratically elected persons of the various stakeholders such as the Football Association, the leagues, the Players Union, Coaches Association, Nigeria Referees Association, Sportswriters Association, etc, who will now be responsible to elect the president of NFF and other key Officials amongst themselves.

By this, the election will be less expensive and devoid of manipulation and guarantee quality and professionalism This is the angle the union is set to Project amongst other options that will guarantee fair play and justice amongst the major stakeholders of the game.