The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: FIFA

  • Security Operatives Take Over NFF Secretariat Ahead of FIFA Stakeholders’ Meeting

    Security Operatives Take Over NFF Secretariat Ahead of FIFA Stakeholders’ Meeting

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    Security operatives from the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force have taken control of the Nigeria Football Federation secretariat in Abuja ahead of a scheduled stakeholders’ meeting with officials of world football governing body, FIFA.

    The heavily armed operatives were deployed around the NFF headquarters on Monday, with access to the premises restricted as preparations continued for the meeting.

    More than 20 security personnel, who arrived in several official vehicles, were positioned at strategic points around the secretariat and subjected visitors and stakeholders to screening at the entrance.

    Only a limited number of people were reportedly allowed into the complex, while others were denied access.

    Attempts by journalists to enter the secretariat were also blocked by the security operatives, who said a high-level management meeting was taking place inside the premises.

    The operatives reportedly said they had received instructions from above not to allow journalists into the complex or permit them to operate within the secretariat.

    Earlier, a vehicle from the State House arrived at the NFF headquarters and delivered files containing documents ahead of the management meeting.

    Meanwhile, the FIFA delegation expected to participate in the stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for Monday night in Abuja arrived in Nigeria on Sunday.

    The delegation was reportedly received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by a combined team of security operatives and taken away from the airport.

    The stakeholders’ meeting is expected to bring FIFA officials together with relevant Nigerian football stakeholders as discussions continue on issues concerning the country’s football administration.

  • FIFA, UEFA Clash Over Infantino Controversial $4.2bn Deal

     

    infantino

    FIFA and UEFA have escalated their dispute over Gianni Infantino’s abandoned $4.2bn Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) investment plan, with world football’s governing body accusing UEFA of conducting a “smear campaign” against its leadership.

    The row comes as UEFA pursues access to FIFA documents in a US court. At the centre of the legal battle are allegations over the valuation and handling of the proposed deal. UEFA has accused Infantino of “criminal mismanagement” and a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by [him] for his own benefit”.

    FIFA has asked the US court to defer or reject UEFA’s request, arguing that its case “suffers from a fundamental defect” and “legal deficiencies”. It also said UEFA was seeking extensive evidence for “a foreign criminal proceeding that does not exist”.

    FIFA said FFE was only a proposal and could have gone ahead only with majority support from its member associations and the approval of the FIFA Council. It accused UEFA of refusing to participate in that process, describing the organisation’s actions as “the beginning of a weeks-long smear campaign against Fifa and its leadership”

    The proposed transaction involved US venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and his company, Thrive, which had been in talks to lead a $4.2bn investment for a 20% stake in a new FIFA commercial subsidiary. The plan was abandoned in July following intense opposition after details emerged.

    UEFA has separately asked a New York court to order Kushner and US financier Greg Maffei to provide testimony and documents. It alleges that FIFA deliberately valued the World Cup commercial business at about £15bn, a figure “that was neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer”.

    Kushner has since expressed regret over his involvement, saying: “While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to… had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.” The dispute comes as Infantino faces calls to step down, with three confederations reported to be backing moves against the FIFA president.  The Sun