NFF Crisis: FA Chairmen Welcome FIFA Normalisation Committee

State Football Association (FA) chairmen have welcomed FIFA’s decision to appoint a Normalisation Committee to oversee Nigerian football, pledging to support the body in fulfilling its mandate and organising fresh elections into the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee.

Gombe State FA chairman, Yakubu Sarma, who led the state FA delegation during recent consultations with FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF) officials in Abuja, said the committee must work with the NFF Congress to ensure a smooth return to elected leadership.

“As FAs, we welcome the development and will support the Normalisation Committee to meet up with its mandate,” Sarma told LEADERSHIP Sport.

“One thing is sacrosanct: the committee will not sideline Congress, and Congress will ensure football wins,” he added.

The Bureau of the FIFA Council approved the appointment on Thursday, following months of uncertainty over the NFF leadership after the departure of former president Ibrahim Gusau and other board members.

In a letter signed by FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafström and addressed to Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, FIFA said the committee would comprise a suitable number of members to be appointed jointly by FIFA and CAF as soon as possible.

The committee’s mandate will end once it has completed its assigned tasks, with 31 May 2027 set as the final deadline.

FIFA also ruled that no member of the committee would be eligible to contest any position in the forthcoming NFF elections.

Sarma said the appointment did not come as a surprise to the state FA chairmen, explaining that they had anticipated the normalisation process because caretaker or interim arrangements were incompatible with the established framework of FIFA and CAF.

“Long before now, we knew it was going to be normalisation, because caretaker or interim [arrangements] are alien to FIFA and CAF statutes,” he said.

He maintained that the state FA chairmen had sought a resolution to the leadership vacuum through modalities that would take account of Nigerian football’s existing structures and circumstances.

“All we agitated for was home-grown modalities in resolving the leadership vacuum, but with the NSC running to FIFA and some maladministration issues that followed, it became impossible and prompted FIFA to intervene,” Sarma said.

The leadership crisis had generated competing positions among stakeholders, with some advocating a swift election through existing NFF structures, while others supported a FIFA-backed Normalisation Committee to oversee the transition and address governance concerns.

Thursday’s decision establishes the framework for the next phase of NFF administration, although the committee’s members and detailed responsibilities are yet to be announced.

Pending its appointment, the NFF Secretariat will continue to handle the federation’s day-to-day operations.

Sarma’s comments underline the importance of Congress in the transition, with the Gombe FA chairman insisting that the normalisation process must not exclude the federation’s congress members from the decisions shaping Nigerian football’s future.

The committee is expected to oversee the federation’s affairs and organise fresh elections before the deadline set by FIFA.