FIFA has approved the appointment of a Normalisation Committee to manage the affairs of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) pending fresh elections into its Executive Committee.
The NFF disclosed this in a statement, citing a letter signed by FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafström and addressed to Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme.
According to the letter, FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will jointly appoint the committee members as soon as possible. The committee will remain in office until it completes its assigned tasks, but no later than May 31, 2027.
FIFA also stated that members of the committee would be ineligible to contest any position in the forthcoming NFF elections.
Until the committee is appointed, the NFF Secretariat will continue to manage the federation’s day-to-day operations and the administration of Nigerian football.
The decision follows developments in August, when former NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation’s Executive Committee resigned.
The National Sports Commission subsequently approved Emmanuel Ikpeme as interim General Secretary and Ademola Olajire as interim Deputy General Secretary, while the planned NFF elective congress was suspended pending reforms.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier directed a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football, with the NSC tasked with working with the NFF and engaging FIFA and CAF on the process.