By Victor Enyinnaya on April 15, 2016

Former member of FIFA Technical Study Group, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, has called on the warring groups in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to forthwith put the interest of the game ahead of their own and immediately end their senseless struggle for power aimed at the very soul of the game.

He gave the advice during an exclusive telephone interview with Daily Sports (www.dailysportsng.com) from his country home in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State. The veteran coach advised the gladiators not to allow the game to continue to suffer because of their power struggle.

“Let me categorically say here that I am not for Amaju Pinnick or Chris Giwa; rather, my constituency is those positives that would enhance football and anything short of that count me out. Setting the tone for the game lists my full support. This crisis should come to an end immediately to allow for meaningful attention to be given to the sport that is fast declining. Honestly, this is not what the game wants now in the country. My appeal is, whatever engineered this came at a very wrong time and so there must be way out of it,” he said.

Onigbinde stressed that is incumbent on the gladiators to show lots of understanding so as to save the game in the country.

“The fact,” he said, “remains that Nigerian football needs every support to get past this trying moment. It is worrisome that almost two years after the election that brought the present board to power, the litigation challenging its legality lingers. We should come back and ask ourselves how long we will continue like this. The other time it was Nigeria in the eye of FIFA and its hammer, threats and counter-threats to ban the country shortly after the last World Cup in Brazil. The tug of war continued until a truce was called that produced this executive committee. We should be careful and stop this overzealousness.”

The former CAF Instructor insists that there is no democracy in our football, right from the State FAs to football clubs and the national level. He said that there is, therefore, every need to save the game from the embarrassment power chasers have subjected it to all this while.

Onigbinde said that his stand on the issue is clear – “that the game should be central in all what we are doing. Many interpretations have been given to the FIFA rule on this matter. We must get past this without over-heating the arena; it does not speaking well of us before the international community.”

The former Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles further stressed that the future of the game and the country’s players must occupy a central place in the minds of whoever aspires to administer football in Nigeria. He strongly condemned the parallel congresses held in Abuja on Wednesday as not only a humiliation but also absurd. “We should stop this joke as it has been carried too far; enough should be enough,” Onigbinde said.

•Photo shows Chief Onigbinde.

Source Daily Sports

Posted April 15, 2016

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