Football administrators, ex-internationals on Thursday called for proper implementation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Bill 2017 passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday .
The stakeholders, who spoke in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the passage of the bill was commendable.
The sponsor of the Bill, Sen. Obinna Ogba, before the passage, said the bill would bring court cases to rest as issues regarding the NFF would be tackled by the Court of Arbitration and not regular courts.
“It has become necessary to repeal the Extant Act. This is because it requires a lot of amendments to bring it into agreement with FIFA required international best practices. It is to give the desired boost it requires.
“The Bill has no financial implication because it is only seeking for a change in the name of the football body in order to achieve greater and better results in future.
“It seeks to ensure that only those who are actually involved in competitive football matches are members of the Federation and not just organisations and establishments as contained in the extant act.
“The bill also makes provision for the election of a President to lead the Executive Committee as against the existing law where the governing body of the association is a board appointed from different organizations,’’ Ogba said.
Aminu Maigari, former Chairman of the NFF said: “this is a welcome development and I commend the Senate for seeing the need for NFF to be autonomous.
“All the unnecessary crisis have come to rest now, it’s something I started and pursued vigorously and I’m happy it’s now a reality, it’s also important that it is implemented.”he said.
Also, Amos Adamu, a former Director General of the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC), said that with the passage of the bill, NFF would be better for it.
“It’s a good development, they should organise seminars to educate people more about the bill.
“There will be hitches here and there at first, but if they are committed to this, it will be of great benefits to us.
“There is need to enlighten the public on how this bill will work and its proper implementation,” the former FIFA and CAF executive member said.
Felix Owolabi, a former Green Eagles player, said the passage of the bill was good for football administration.
“It’s a good development, provided they allow it to function properly, we have laudable ideas but it’s always good on paper.
“The implementation has to be effective, it’s good enough that the bill is passed, but the implementation is vital,” Owolabi added.
Fuludu Edema, a member of the 1994 AFCON victorious squad said that the passage of the bill was long overdue.
“It’s long overdue but it’s better late than ever; at least, we won’t be going to court every time which will ensure stability.
“The problem is not our laws, we have good laws governing us, not only in football but we need adequate implementation of our laws.
“My worry is only the implementation, it depends on the type of administrators we have and they need to be committed toward making this work,’’ Edema said. (NAN)
