The Senate yesterday passed the Nigeria Football Association establishment Bill, just as it seeks to ensure that only those who are actually involved in competitive football matches are members of the Federation and not just Organisations establishments as is contained in the Extant Act. Another festive of the Bill is that provisions are made for the election of a President to lead the Executive Committee in contrast to the contents of the Extant Act, where the Governing Body of the Association is a Board appointed persons elect a Chairman from amongst themselves. Also in the passed bill, the aspiring President is nominated by his or her State Football Association and that nomination has to be endorsed by three me,bears of the Federation from other geo-political zones of the country, adding that this broadens the selection base of the leadership of the Federation. Presenting the report of the Senate Committee on Sports and Youth Development on a Bill for an Act to Repeal the Nigeria Football Association Act CAP 110LFN 2004 and enact the Nigeria Football Federation and other Matters connected therewith, 2017, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Obinna Ogba said that the Senate at its plenary Sitting on Wednesday, 19 th Octver, 2015, read the bill the second time and referred same to the Committee for further legislative action.
According to him, during the life the of the 7th National Aseembly, the Bill was passed by the Senate. But unfortunately, the House of Representatives could not pass it and as such, the bill was re- introduced again in this 8th Senate. In the report, the Committee said that the Bill has no financial implication, adding that the government was not going to spend any further money in the implementation of the provisions of the Bill as it seeks fir a change in the name of the Football Body and its re- Organisation in order to achieve greater and better results in future. With the passage, the bill seeks to establish modes of mandatory systematic development of soccer through institutional, age and genre competitions, adding that with the passage of the Bill, Nigeria will reclaim its envied position of being African Number one football nation. In the report, the Committee said, ” the general complaints of our footballers, both foreign and home based, is the quality of football management in the Country.
It is envisaged that with the passage of this Bill, this Country will experience an appreciable improvement in the management of Football, that will ensure that our football stays amongst the top 10 in the world. ” One other problem of football in this Country is funding. In other countries, such as England, Spain, Italy and so on, the government is not involved in the funding of football development rather the Club owners do so through the establishment of their feeder teams and signing on of identified star players. This country has not achieved that and this is one of the objectives of the Federation. “
