Nigeria says FIFA demands met

Nigeria has informed world football governing body FIFA that all the impediments they cited before suspending the country’s membership have been lifted.

Acting secretary-general of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Musa Amadu, said that with the withdrawal Monday of the court case instituted against the NFF by the National Association of Nigeria Footballers (NANF), the board of the NFF could function again.

“All the legal impediments, which FIFA complained about, have been cleared following the formal withdrawal of the court case by NANF,” Amadu said.

“This means that all the orders by the court are now null and void and the board will this week resume work.

“We have communicated these developments to FIFA accordingly.”

FIFA provisionally lifted its ban on Nigeria in time for the country to play a 2012 Nations Cup qualifier in Guinea.

The Swiss-based organisation asked that the government should cease direct interference into the running of the game in Nigeria.

This concerned an intervention into the composition of the league and an order for the secretary-general Amadu to step aside.

The congress of the Nigeria Premier League has since reverted to 20 clubs in the top flight as against the earlier decision to have 24 teams for the new season, while Amadu has been recalled to his post.

However, the world football governing body had warned that it would ban Nigeria if the NANF court case was not formally discontinued on Monday.