The lingering absence of a new president for Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) became conspicuous on Thursday, when the country’s number one seat was left vacant during a conference that FIFA president, Gianni Infantino held with the heads of Africa’s major federations.
Sports247 gathered that, with much expected elections yet to hold since Alhaji Shehu Musa Gusau’s resignation on August 27th, along with his entire executive committee members, the NFF is yet to get a new president, which left the country’s prime seat empty during Infantino’s conference in Cape Verde.
While Nigeria’s Samson Adamu was blind to be present as the secretary-general of Confederation of African Football (CAF), along with some of his compatriots in other key positions of the continental body, a major leadership symbol for the NFF was absent officially.
This means Nigeria could end up missing out on some promises coming from Infantino, as he seeks to rally support from African countries heading into next year’s FIFA election, following the decision by European and North American countries to withdraw their backing of his bid for another term.
It would also interest Nigeria’s sports authorities to learn that, during Thursday’s session, Infantino promised further resources for African countries, as he addressed football association presidents at a rare public speech since his bid to sell a stake in FIFA tournaments collapsed due to resistance from Europe’s major federations.
Nigeria’s leadership was missing, though presidents of Africa’s 54 associations had been expected to attend the first ever strategy symposium for African football, which provided a platform for Infantino to address more than a quarter of the voters ahead of next year’s FIFA elections.
He reminded the African football federation presidents of the financial contributions that FIFA has made towards improving the game across the continent since he was elected as president in 2016 and promised to give more.
While reiterating his support for Africa, Infantino declared: “Our commitment is to make sure that your football is going to continue to improve and grow, give you more opportunities. Ten countries at the World Cup has been a success for the entire continent.
“We need to continue together on this path, because it is up to you as CAF to tell us what you want. How we can make you stronger and better. We will continue to look for the resources and the increases that are necessary to boost the African game to the top of world football.”
