ABUJA - The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in Abuja warned the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) not to misconstrue the federation’s new stance on the appointment of match commissioners. NFF President Sani Lulu, who gave the warning while inaugurating the federation’s Match Commissioners’ Appointment Committee, said “delegating responsibility and ceding power are two different matters.
The NFF committee, which has Mr Momodu Kadiri as chairman, has nine members, including NPL’s Acting Executive Secretary Alhassan Yakmut. Other members are Alhaji Sani Mohammed, Mr Bode Oyewole, Alhaji Kachalla Gana, Mrs Edith Nwakire, Mr Frank Ilaboya and Mr Sunday Obaseki, a sports officer at the NPL, as secretary.
“The NFF retains the power of appointment but has in this case temporarily delegated responsibility for appointment to the NPL. This should not be seen as the NFF ceding the power to NPL,” he said. The football house, who was represented by NFF First Vice-President Amanze Uchegbulam, recalled that the move was in deference to the request made by club owners at a recent meeting with the federation’s leadership. He pointed at Article 87 of NFF’s statutes which states that “it shall be solely the duty of the NFF to determine the recruitment, training, grading, control and appointment of Match Commissioners for all matches organised by NFF and any of its subordinates.“This, of course, simply underscores what has always been the case: That the NFF is the sole regulatory body for football within the Nigerian sovereignty.
“However, it is also true that the NFF has the right to delegate any of its responsibilities to any of its subordinates or affiliates,’’ he noted.
Lulu, however, insisted that the committee was that of the NFF and not the NPL and enjoined the latter to see itself in proper perspective. “The match commissioners themselves must realise that their reports should be produced in duplicate, with a copy going to the NFF and the other to the NPL.
“In the same vein, we insist that the appointments for matches must remain within the list approved by the NFF,” he said. Lulu, however, praised the NPL for the brilliant innovation it had brought into the league “for it to end successfully and magnificently last season”. He also commended clubs for imbibing good sportsmanship and enlightening their supporters on better conduct at match venues.
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