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A logjam at the Federal High Court Ikoyi yesterday, where the National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) formally discontinued its case against the NFF has given rise to speculations that the country might be risking another FIFA ban.

Whilst NANF’s case against the NFF was formally struck out by the presiding judge, Okon Abang, the court however failed to reinstate the Aminu Maigari-led board as expected by the defendants who argued that it was one of the conditions given by FIFA when it provisionally lifted the ban on October 8.

“From my own understanding, it is like we have done nothing today if the board has not been given the go-ahead to function. FIFA said that the board should be left alone to work without any interference or else the hammer will fall on us [again],” said Baribote Rumsen, who is a members of the disputed NFF board.

“Right now our fate is in the hands of the judge; if there is anything that can be done latest tomorrow (today) to vacate the order he placed that any of us who parades himself as a board member would be arrested, then we can move forward.”

However NANF’s counsel, Belo Aideloje, said allowing the board to function is equivallent to ‘legalizing an illegality’.

More trouble in the offing

“As at today, legally speaking, there is no new board. Aside that, all the talk about FIFA ban should not be a cause of worry. FIFA is in its own mess right now and is trying to purify (itself), Who is FIFA to give a directive to the Customary Court in Nigeria talk less of a High Court? A court has made a pronouncement and FIFA cannot tamper with such orders. If they want the court to do something for them they should come and humbly approach the court. FIFA is no country, they can’t be giving directives to a country; FIFA has humiliated Nigeria enough,” he said.

Different perspectives

On their part, lawyers have interpreted the ruling differently.

For Barrister Hycinth Igbokwe, the court’s pronouncement on the discontinuance of the case amounts to quashing all orders pertaining to the case.

“For me, the board has been re-installed with today’s judgement. When a case is discontinued on any basis all orders previously made goes with it.”

Aideloje, further advised that the NFF should in essence revert to the former board and then start doing things properly but all talk of new board should be put to bed, at least for now.

FIFA had provisionally lifted the suspension placed on Nigerian football until today, October 26 2010, after noting that the next hearing before the court was scheduled for October 25 and that it was only then that the judge can vacate the court orders.

The world football governing body however said should the NFF still be embroiled in court actions or any other issue preventing it from working freely on that date, the suspension will be automatically confirmed until all problems have been definitively solved.

The matter is still with the court

NANF president, Harrison Jalla, who instituted the case, said his association had kept to the bargain of an out-of-court settle. He however said NANF cannot force the court to reverse the annulment of the August 26 election of the NFF. Rather, he called for a ‘political solution’ to the issue.

“We’ve kept to our own part of the bargain by withdrawing the case. So the court will do justice to the other issues because the NANF can’t influence legal matters,” he said.

Others said as things stand, the crisis is far from being over.

Former FIFA secretary-general Michel Zen-Ruffinen called on Sunday for soccer’s governing body to allow an external investigation into the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups following allegations of vote-selling.

FIFA’s own ethics committee, headed by former Switzerland international forward Claudio Sulser, is carrying out an inquiry and is due to make a final ruling in mid-November.

A cue from the IOC

“The problem stems from the fact that when it comes to taking decisions to eradicate corruption, these decisions are delegated to an internal organ; that is, a body that is also part of FIFA,” Zen-Ruffinen told French-language Swiss television channel TSR.

“I think it is the biggest problem. If one wants to eliminate corruption from FIFA, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) succeeded in doing itself when there was a problem surrounding the organisation of the Olympic Games, the mandate has to be given to an outside body.”

Zen-Ruffinen was FIFA general secretary from 1998 until 2002 when he left after accusing President Sepp Blatter of mismanaging the organisation.

He spoke on Sunday four days after FIFA’s ethics committee provisionally suspended executive committee members Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii.

Both have denied wrongdoing and said they expect to be cleared.

Zen-Ruffinen’s involvement

Zen-Ruffinen became involved in the story himself when the Sunday Times newspaper posted a film of him talking to undercover reporters.

“I confirm it was me, but it should be placed in the context of what happened,” said Zen-Ruffinen.

“It was a discussion in the framework of a contractual relationship, a discussion that was totally confidential, held in a place that was not accessible to other people.”

Voting on the World Cup hosts is restricted to the members of FIFA’s executive committee. The decision will be made on December 2.

FIFA is also investigating allegations that two unnamed candidates have broken the rules by acting in collusion.

England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands are bidding to host the 2018 World Cup while Japan, South Korea, Australia, United States and Qatar are candidates for 2022.

Nigerian defender Danny Shittu at the weekend made a great start to his Millwall career as he bagged the Man of the Match award in the Lions’ 2-0 win over Derby County.

The former Bolton Wanderers and Watford player, who only signed a three-month contract last Friday with the English Championship side, had a fantastic debut at the New Den even making an impact as early as 26 seconds into the encounter when he was on hand to make a vital headed clearance.

He was substituted in the 77th minute to a standing ovation from the home fans as the Lions recorded their first home win since the end of August.

At the end of the game Shittu was handed the supporters’ man-of-the-match award and the Nigerian has expressed gratitude to the club’s fans for the honour.

“I’m not going to lie, I was surprised but very honoured,” he said of the fans’ reaction to his debut in a report carried by the Southwark News. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing, when you come to a new place you’re still a bit nervous.

“The manager (Kenny Jackett), who I’ve known for a long time, has taken to me straight away but for the fans to treat me like that… they might not understand how big a deal that is. I really appreciated that and I thank them for it.”

Cramp-induced substitution

Shittu produced a number of crucial blocks and crunching tackles before succumbing to cramp in the 77th minute – something he says was down to a lack of recent match practice.

“I’d only trained for two days, and for the last few months I’ve spent Saturdays taking the kids to the park,” explained Shittu, who made his Super Eagles debut in 2002.

“I’ve been doing my own thing but there’s nothing like match fitness – you can do as much running on the treadmill as you like.

“I knew that tiredness would affect me, but all I wanted to do was keep going today. I’m glad that the reason I came off was just because of cramp and not an injury.”

The 30-year-old has since gone on to make close to 30 appearances for Nigeria with the last of them coming in the Super Eagles’ 2-0 victory over Madagascar in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier decided in Calabar.

“The last game I played was about four or five weeks ago, for Nigeria against Madagascar,” he said, referring to the September 5 match in Calabar.

“I’ve been playing for Nigeria for six or seven years now, so every time there was an international break I’ve been getting packed away somewhere so I haven’t had time off like this for years.

“It was good for me to spend some time with my family – I’ve got four kids and I’ve really got to know them over these past few months. It’s a big thing and it probably delayed me getting back into football.”

Harrison Jalla, president of the National Association of Nigeria Footballers (NANF), will today officially take the case filed by his players’ union against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) out of court.

NANF had sued the NFF, as well as several other officials including the recently suspended FIFA executive committee member Amos Adamu, to a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos in respect of the disputed August 26 elections into the NFF’s executive committee.

NANF’s action however went contrary to FIFA regulations and was one of the sore points listed by the football world body when they recently suspended Nigeria from international football at the start of the month; a suspension that was later lifted by the Switzerland based organisation.

FIFA’s lifting of the suspension was however preceded by an agreement by NANF to settle their grievance against the NFF out of court following an October 6 meeting in Lagos with some of the parties involved in the case, most notably Adamu.

In spite of this, NANF’s decision doesn’t become official until a pronouncement by the court, and that is what Jalla will be seeking to do today when the case resumes for hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Notice of discontinuance

“We are filing for a notice of discontinuance as we are putting the interest of Nigeria first,” Jalla told NEXT. “We gave our guarantee to FIFA that we will resolve the matter out of court and that is what we intend to do so we can put the matter behind us.” As part of the agreement reached at the meeting where NANF agreed to an out of court settlement, certain conditions had to be met by the NFF top of which is an amendment of the statutes of the NFF to affect the composition of its congress whose number was considerably reduced prior to the August 26 NFF board elections.

In a bid to get this implemented, Jalla and other NANF officials were at the weekend in Abuja to meet with officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC), as well as members of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports, and the NFF.

Jalla refused to divulge details of the meeting but he expressed optimism regarding the implementation of the changes to the NFF’s statutes.

Asked whether NANF’s decision to withdraw the case would have any effect on the court’s earlier decision to nullify the NFF elections that ushered in Aminu Maigari as the football body’s, Jalla said:

“That is no longer our business. The court has ruled on that and our business now is to take the case out of court in line with FIFA’s directive.” Pull quote: our business now is to take the case out of court in line with FIFA’s directive

Arsenal overwhelmed 10-man Manchester City 3-0 in the Premier League yesterday while Manchester United secured a 2-1 win at Stoke City with two goals from Wayne Rooney’s stand-in Javier Hernandez.

City were left chasing shadows from the fifth minute at Eastlands after defender Dedryck Boyata saw red for a last-man foul on Marouane Chamakh and Arsenal won with goals by Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner.

Chelsea, who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 on Saturday, lead the Premier League standings with 22 points.

Arsenal and City are both now on 17 points, alongside Manchester United after Hernandez struck four minutes from time to seal his side’s first away league win of the season.

In Sunday’s other match Liverpool claimed only their second win of the season when they beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Anfield, with Fernando Torres among the scorers.

Arsenal had Cesc Fabregas back pulling the strings in a league game for the first time in five weeks and he made a huge difference with a display full of promptings and probings.

Arsenal had a scare in the first minute when Lukasz Fabianski saved well from David Silva’s clever flick but before five minutes were up the hosts were reduced to 10 men when Fabregas slid a perfect pass into the path of Chamakh and Boyata dived in needlessly to bring him down just outside the box.

Arsenal soon made their numbers pay when Nasri played a nice one-two with Andrei Arshavin before scoring from a tight angle in the 21st minute.

Fabregas’s nimble feet proved too much for Vincent Kompany five minutes before the break, earning a penalty for a trip, only for Joe Hart to make an excellent diving save from the Spaniard’s spot kick.

Fabianski was called into action to foil Silva again as City started the second half brightly but the fluttering flame was extinguished when another Fabregas pass caused chaos and allowed Song to poke in the killer second goal after 66 minutes.

Bendtner came off the bench for his second appearance of the season to complete the scoring two minutes from time.

“We played some outstanding football at times and it’s very difficult to stop a team playing at that tempo,” Fabregas told Sky Sports “Even if they had 15 (players) and we had 11 we would still go and win.” Rooney replacement

After Rooney had hogged the headlines all week it was his stand-in Hernandez who was the toast of Manchester United fans after his double overcame battling Stoke.

He opened the scoring with a dextrous back-header after 27 minutes but as United eventually stat back to defend their lead they looked to be heading for another draw when substitute Tuncay Sanli curled in a lovely equaliser after 81 minutes.

Mexico striker Hernandez, however, topped an impressive all-round display by seizing on a loose ball to prod in the winner four minutes from time.

“Drawing so many away games hasn’t been good enough this season, so today there was a lot of relief at the end,” said defender Gary Neville after his 600th United appearance.

Liverpool remain in the bottom three on nine points but there was a real feeling of relief around Anfield as they not only chalked up a rare win but played some enterprising soccer.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos put them ahead early in the second half with a header and after a Jamie Carragher own goal in the 52nd minute, Fernando Torres grabbed the winner a minute later with only his second goal of the season.

The Athletics
Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is ready for the Obudu International
Mountain Race and the second African Nations Mountaining Running
Championships, Maria Worphil, the secretary general of the federation
has said.

The event scheduled
for next month at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu, Cross River state is
the sixth edition of the fast growing mountain race.

“The AFN is ready
to organise the best mountain race ever anywhere in the world when the
sixth edition holds next month in Obudu. We have put all the necessary
logistics in place and the federation is blessed with men and women who
can hold their own in terms of the technical organisations of events of
the magnitude of Obudu mountain race,” Worphil said.

Worphil also said
the AFN has been receiving many entries from fellow African Nations in
respect of the African Nations Mountaining Running Championships.

“We sent out
entries before the start of the recently ended Commonwealth Games and
the response has been very encouraging. What I can guarantee is that we
will have far more nations than the six who participated at the
inaugural edition of the championships last year,” she said.

The race

The Obudu
international mountain race is organised by the Cross River State
government, in conjunction with the Athletic Federation of Nigeria
(AFN). It is supported by the African Athletics Confederation (CAA),
the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), and the International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The race covers a
distance of 11 kilometres uphill to an altitude of 1,575 metres above
sea level, taking you to one of the finest tourist destinations in the
world, the Obudu Mountain Resort.

This year’s race, which has been confirmed for the last week of
November, will, apart from the main race, feature activities like a
Doping in Sports Seminar, the Media Race, Children’s Race, and a Gala
Night/Fireworks. The main race will flag-off alongside the African
Championship at 8.00 a.m on Saturday November 27, 2010.

As God sits ensconced in majesty on his throne in Heaven, he watches over the affairs of men. Loving and compassionate as he is, he does not share his glory with mortals.

And so when men begin to play God, his anger is stirred and he visits his wrath upon them. For some time now, Sepp Blatter and his lieutenants at FIFA have been acting as if the world belonged to them alone.

The former footballer from Switzerland drunk on the influence conferred on his him by virtue of his leading the monopoly that FIFA has become, has been throwing his weight around lately.

Like a bully, he has taken to threatening member nations at the slightest opportunity as if FIFA were a global overlord charged with the responsibility of whipping errant nations into line. Our dear country, Nigeria has become his hapless victim. Goaded on by our shady and unpatriotic compatriots, Blatter has been poking a finger into our eyes.

In his arrogance, Chinua Achebe’s advice that “those whose palm kernels have been cracked for them by benevolent spirits should not forget to be humble”, has been lost on him. And so like we have been told again and again, pride goes before a fall.

On Sunday, August 17, Blatter and his henchmen at the Glass House in Zurich were brought down to earth from their castled height in Switzerland.

That day, news broke that two of his executive committee members, Amos Adamu (the man known in Nigeria as Mr Fix it) and Reynald Tenarii demanded money from Sunday Times of London reporters who posed as lobbyists for American interests in the 2018 World Cup bid before the Americans pulled out of the race. Both men were alleged to have asked for different sums of money to guarantee their votes. A video footage released showed Adamu in negotiation with the reporters.

For FIFA, an organisation with a huge question mark hanging over its credibility, it was as we would say in Nigerian parlance, “bad market”.

Since the incident, the normally loquacious and belligerent Blatter has become thoroughly chastened. On Wednesday when he addressed a press conference after the ethics committee announced the suspension of Adamu and Tenarii, Blatter looked his full 74 years of age. He looked a frail and broken old man.

The allegation about the FIFA officials has not come as a shock to me. While both men remain innocent until investigation into their matter has run its full course, there’s a lot to be said for the way FIFA does business.

Encouraging graft

It seems to me from the way the whole bid process is structured that FIFA has wittingly or unwittingly encouraged its members to engage in unseemly conduct. In the first place, it beats my imagination why the football body is choosing host countries for World Cups that are eight and twelve years removed from now. Why the hurry? The 2010 World Cup just ended in South Africa and the next one in Brazil is a full three years away; so why are Blatter and his men opening up bids for 2108 and 2022?

Is it because Blatter suspects that if he gets a next term, which would expire sometime around 2015, he is unlikely to make a case for another term and so must make provision for his retirement and those of his ageing lieutenants?

What has happened should be act as reality check for Blatter. As he goes about seeking ways to mitigate the effect of the allegations, he must bear in mind that the world, which has become weary of the shenanigans of FIFA officials and which remains mindful of past cases of allegations of acts corruption against past and current executive committee members, expects that Adamu and Tenarii should face the full wrath of the law if found guilty. That is the only way he can ever hope to begin to regain the confidence of the football community around the world. For if truth be told, people are tired of FIFA’s way of doing business. They demand transparency, which unfortunately, the glass house in Zurich has not been able to provide.

Anything less, will only serve to further confirm the widely held view that the world football governing body is nothing but a cult of individuals sworn to protect their personal interests to the detriment of the beautiful game.

Nigerian defender Danny Shittu looks set to revive his dwindling football fortune after he agreed to pitch tents with English Championship outfit, Millwall.

Shittu has been a free agent ever since he agreed to leave Premier League side Bolton Wanderers at the end of August.

The 30 year-old was linked with a host of club sides in Europe, most notably clubs from the Scottish Premier League, as well as the Middle East, but has now accepted an offer to join Millwall.

The deal is expected to initially last for three months and Shittu is expected to put pen to paper on Friday at The Den – home ground of the London based club side fondly referred to as the Lions by their fans.

Shittu is also looking forward to playing for the club where he will be reunited with Millwall manager Kenny Jackett, who had previously managed Shittu during his time at Queens Park Rangers.

“This move ticks all the right boxes for me,” Shittu told the club’s official website.

“I’m excited to be coming here and I hope to help Millwall push up the table.

“I know a bit about the club from friends who are supporters and everything I’ve heard has been positive.” Tough task ahead

Shittu will be coming into a Millwall side that is currently occupying the 12th position on the 24-team Championship table after 12 rounds of matches that has seen them winning just four games.

Three teams will be promoted from the Championship to the Premier League at the end of the season but only the top two finishers are guaranteed automatic promotion to the top flight.

The Lions last featured in the English top flight division in the 1989/1990 season and have since then languished in various tiers of the English league.

They however reached the 2004 FA Cup final only to lose to Manchester United. But as United had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League that season, Millwall qualified to play in the UEFA Cup the following season and played in Europe for the first time in their history.

They’ve also reached the FA Cup semi-finals on three separate occasions, in 1900, 1903 and 1937.

A list of notable players who have played for Millwall includes Nigerian-born former England international John Fashanu, Australians Lucas Neill and Tim Cahill, Irishman Tony Cascarino, current Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce, as well as former England international Teddy Sheringham, who was last year inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.

Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, are still ranked the 34th national team in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings released yesterday.

They are also still ranked 5th in Africa despite the embarrassing lone goal defeat inflicted on them by Guinea in a 2012 Cup of Nations qualifier decided earlier in the month in Conakry.

For their part, the Guineans climbed 34 places from their previous 84th position to number 47 in the rankings which is however still a long way from the 22nd position they occupied as far back as January 2007.

The biggest movers in Africa are the Central African Republic who climbed 60 places to 112th in the world and 28th in Africa, mostly as a result of their 2-0 victory over Algeria in a Cup of Nations qualifier earlier this month.

Niger, who also recorded a shock 1-0 victory over Egypt, also jumped 54 places to 26th in Africa and 100th overall.

The loss to Niger notwithstanding, African champions Egypt are still number one on the continent but have dropped to 11th in the world which means there are no African teams amongst the world’s 10 best sides.

Trailing the Pharaohs are Ghana, who moved up three places to 17th in the world, their highest ever position in the FIFA rankings, even though they failed to beat lowly Sudan in Accra.

Africa’s third ranked side in the latest rankings are Cote d’Ivoire who leapt four places to 19th in the world, followed by Algeria who climbed two spots to now occupy the 33rd position in the world, a spot above the Super Eagles.

Although the Super Eagles were in November 1999 ranked as low as 82nd in the world, its highest ever position in the rankings was the 5th it occupied back in April 1994.

Gabon, who were previously number four in Africa are now the continent’s 12th ranked side and number 39 in the world.

Spain still on top

World champions Spain maintained its hold on the top spot in the FIFA rankings, while the United States slipped to number 25 after having played only exhibition matches since the end of the World Cup in South Africa.

Croatia and Russia returned to the top 10 following victories in 2012 European Championship qualifiers, and France bounced back into the top 20 after an historic low last month.

In second place are the Netherlands, ahead of third-placed Brazil, which swapped places with fourth-ranked Germany. Argentina are fifth, followed by England.

Russia’s wins over Ireland and Macedonia lifted it 15 spots to number 10, while Croatia are now ninth.

Australia heads the Asian Football Confederation countries at number 21.

A total of 156 international matches – 80 continental qualifiers and 76 friendly matches – were taken into account for the October edition of the world ranking, which brings the total number of matches evaluated in 2010 to 641.

Liverpool will get their regular break from the domestic troubles when they visit Napoli in the Europa League Thursday while holders Atletico Madrid look for a first group stage win when they host Rosenborg.

Liverpool, who are in the Premier League relegation zone and have been stuck in the middle of an ownership battle, have found some relief in the Europa League where they have won five and drawn one of their six games, including qualifying ties.

They top Group K with four points, although Thursday’s match will be by far their toughest test so far with Napoli fourth in Serie A and Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani in prolific form.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, who led Fulham to the final last season, has seemed far more comfortable in Europe and is hoping Thursday’s game can provide the springboard for out-of-sorts Spain striker Fernando Torres.

“He was vilified by all and sundry both in this country and Spain during the World Cup,” said Hodgson.

“I think mentally he’s a little bit low about that, I understand that, and the only thing that can pick him up is playing well and scoring some goals.”

“I thought he played well (in a 2-0 defeat) against Everton Sunday and was a constant thorn in their defence. Even at the end when he did set up a goal chance for himself, Tim Howard made a great save.

“If that had gone in, who knows, maybe that would have been the catalyst for him to start believing in himself again.”

Napoli hit back from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Steaua Bucharest in their last outing.

Other fixtures

Atletico have taken only one point from their first two games in Group B and are bottom while Rosenborg, unbeaten in their last 28 Norwegian league matches, have three. Bayer Leverkusen top the group with four points and face a trip to Aris Salonika who have three points.

Atletico expect to have Argentina forward Sergio Aguero back from injury.

Poland’s Lech Poznan, surprise leaders of Group A, hope to continue their impressive run when they visit Manchester City while former European champions Juventus visit Salzburg in the same group.

Several teams have undergone coaching changes recently.

VfB Stuttgart, top of Group H with maximum points but bottom of the Bundesliga, parted with Christian Gross last week and will be playing their second match under Jens Keller when they host Getafe.

Dynamo Kiev visit AZ Alkmaar in Group E looking to bounce back from the shock 2-0 defeat to Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol which prompted Valeri Gazzaev to resign at the end of last month. He has been replaced by Oleg Luzhny.

PAOK Salonika coach Pavlos Dermitzakis quit Saturday after only three months in charge and his former assistant Mikos Havos will be in charge for the visit to Villarreal in Group D.