The law that changed the name of Nigeria Football Association (NFA) to Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was one of the 11 bills passed yesterday by the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani moved for the consideration of the bill changing NFA to NFF in the Senate.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate had way back in 2017 and 2018 passed different versions of the bill before a committee was set up to harmonise them into one and send it for final approval of the Red Chamber.
The approved bill can be summarized into five major components which encompasses a whole new profitable and dynamic structure:
– It recognises the NFF as the body to manage and regulate football activities in Nigeria in line with its statutes as approved by FIFA.
– It recognises the NFF statutes as drafted by its members and approved by FIFA as the Supreme Laws for the governance of the functioning of the organisation, administration and operations of the NFF.
– It recognises that the statutes of the NFF may be amended from time to time in accordance with the procedures and process stipulated in the statutes.
– It recognises football as a national asset and thus entitled to special privileges, concession and from time to time to receive grants, subventions and/or appropriation from the government in furtherance to its objectives and functions and to facilitate the overall development of football in Nigeria.
– It will provide the framework of the minimum provisions the statutes shall contain to ensure good governance, management, and operations of the NFF and in line to the minimum threshold provided by FIFA to be contained in all the Federations’ statutes and other provisions to support football development.
These are the focal points of the Act with the itemized point emphasizing that the NFF will not be hindered from receiving grants or subvention from the government despite their autonomy.
