Solomon Dalung Will Cripple Nigerian Football....Amaju Pinnick, Urges the President to Step in

Pinnick: Dalung will cripple Nigerian football By Admin The embattled President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick has warned that the order given by the Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung that his board should vacate office for Chris Giwa’s group is capable of crippling football in the country. In a statement released on his behalf by Festus Keyamo, his counsel, Pinnick said the world football governing body would wade in by banning Nigeria from international football if the order of the minister was carried out, urging the Presidency to step in. “The Press Release by the Minister of Sports would definitely cripple football in Nigeria and make the country a pariah state regarding football,” Keyamo stated in the statement. “Our clients do not, by this letter, want to give credence or promote so many insinuations, peddled about, as motivating the actions of the Minister of Sports. Our clients only urge the President and Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently reverse the position of the Minister of Sports and save Nigerian Football from collapse. “It should be noted that FIFA has consistently maintained that this same matter has been taken to the highest Court of Sports Arbitration in Switzerland by these same individuals and they have lost. FIFA is only bound by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sports and does not entertain or tolerate decisions by local courts in footballing nations worldwide. Hence, FIFA has since upheld the decision of the Court of Arbitration on this matter and recognized the NFF Board led by Pinnick. Nigeria has a duty to comply with that decision. In addition, for the indiscretion of those individuals like Chris Giwa to approach the local courts, FIFA has since imposed a worldwide ban on them from all footballing activities. The statement said Giwa and his board members did not have any locus standi with regards to footballing matters and the Federal Government must not have any dealing with them. “Our clients also urge restraint and caution because the substantive matter is pending in court and has not been fully determined. Our clients have also taken steps to set aside these orders. Therefore, it is important that the Government awaits the full and final determination of the entire matter,” it read. Credit: newtelegraphonline