Nigerian coaches disown Giwa as NFF President

By Taofeek Lawal

The leadership of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association has disassociated itself from the election that brought Mr. Chris Giwa to office as the new President of the Nigeria Football Federation. The National President of the Association Mr. Bitrus Bewarang while speaking in Abuja said the Association can never be associated with such a charade called election, describing everything that happened in the Congress Room of Chida Hotel, Abuja as an aberration of what the NFF/FIFA statutes states about election of officers into the executive board of a Federation. “This clarification has become necessary because many people would think that because the Coaches were in attendance in the hall that we participated in the election. It is on record that we were the first delegates to raise objections over the alteration of the agenda of the congress, which was supposed to be setting a roadmap for the election of new board members for the Federation. When our observation was over ruled, we decided immediately to disassociate ourselves from the election. We as Coaches and players are the main actors in the round leather game, and cannot be associated with any illegality. Moreover, the Congress that elected the purported executive members did not at any time conform with Article 22 of the NFF 2010 Statues”, he said. The Plateau United General Manager frowned at the incessant crisis that always evolved Nigeria football every election year, describing it as an insult to the generality of Nigeria football stakeholders. He called on the Federation government to call all the warring parties to order, and ensure that the country’s football thrives in the atmosphere of peace and harmony. He however congratulated the National U-20 Women team (Falconets) for their performance at the FIFA U-20 Women World Cup held in Canada “I want to commend the girls and their technical crew for their performance at the championship. They did not allow the administrative rancours at home deter them. We are happy with them, and implore the government to adequately reward them” he concluded.