The FIFA sanction

THE world football-governing body, Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), recently sanctioned Nigeria and fined the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) 6,000 Swiss francs for fielding an ineligible player, Shehu Abdullahi, during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match with Algeria on November 30. The sanction included the forfeiture of the match result and the award of a 3-0 victory to the Desert Foxes. FIFA also reduced Nigeria’s points from 14 to 13 and increased Algeria’s from two to four.

The statement read in part: “The sanction relates to the player Abdulahi Shehu failing to serve the automatic one-match suspension imposed on him as a result of receiving a caution in two separate matches of the same competition. This sanction bears no impact on the final result of the preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup since Nigeria had already qualified (and Algeria eliminated) before the match took place.” FIFA was more than justified in its action: over a month before the match, FIFA had reportedly written a letter to the NFF notifying it of the player’s ineligibility for the match against the Desert Foxes.

For a dead rubber, the FIFA sanction definitely rankles. It was needlessly expensive and pointed to the legendarily listless attitude of the football bureaucracy in the country. Although the NFF has apologised to Nigerians for the avoidable slip, it is crucial to emphasise the fact that no tepid apology can vitiate the painful loss of points and the possibility of losing the opportunity to participate in the most important tournament in football just because some careless official did not pay the required attention to his or her job. The President of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick, showing leadership qualities, accepted responsibility for the slip, but he also admitted that the touted excuses were not sufficient to exculpate the body from the displayed negligence.

It is crucial to know how the FIFA fine of 6,000 Swiss francs which is more than N2 million will be defrayed. Will the NFF take the fine from its statutory allocations? Does it have a vote for such fines? The NFF clearly gave the nation a bad name and it is important that whoever was behind the slip is made to account for it heavily, even if the avoidable tardiness did not affect the country’s participation in the World Cup. As a matter of fact, we think that such official tardiness should be thumbed down and regularly penalised by the bureaucracy.

As a governing body, FIFA certainly did its job by notifying the NFF of the player’s ineligibility before the match. So, why was he fielded against the observance of the rules? Indeed, were the NFF a serious football association, it would have been apprised of the player’s status even without the notification from FIFA. Now, the sanction detracts needlessly from the Eagles’ sterling qualification campaign in which they lost no match—at least, not on the pitch. There must be discipline and those in the bureaucracy must take their jobs more seriously in all areas.

If this slip is lightly dispensed with, a more serious lapse will soon be committed that will do greater damage to the country’s football. The NFF should not allow such negligence to mar the country’s outing in Russia 2018. That will be intolerably ruinous. It should get its acts together and, as its president said, keep its eyes on the ball. For now, it would be appropriate for the federation to assume that it is under probation.