President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa almost came to blows on Wednesday, at a meeting arranged by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, to settle the crisis that has engulfed the football house for almost two years.
Pinnick and Giwa both contested the NFF presidency in September 2014 in Warri, Delta State. In the aftermath of the elections, both FIFA and CAF congratulated Pinnick as the new man at the helm.
Giwa lost his case both in FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), after withdrawing his casefrom a Jos Court, following FIFA’s threat to ban Nigeria from footballing activities.
Dalung, who was apppointed by President Muhammadu Buhari late last year, however, made moves to resolve the conflict and called for dialogue.
However, at the meeting in Abuja, tempers rose and both men called each other unprintable names.
It would have descended into a big fight, if not for the intervention of people present.
The meeting eventually ended in a deadlock and Dalung confirmed they would reconvene next Wednesday.
He also pleaded with both factions to maintain peace for the interest of football and the country.Dalung added: “I have the will power and the political power to resolve the issue and I am optimistic that this issue will be resolved.
We have decided to hear from them because this is a democracy, if we were in a military dictatorship I may have just decreed and asked one party to step down.”
Indeed... They are accidental leaders
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