Former Abia State
Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu is set to emerge FIFA President if he gets the
endorsement of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Kalu is in the
news for the office of FIFA president which Sepp Blatter will vacate soon.
Former Wimbledon
star John Fashanu is among those campaigning for Kalu to contest the election.
Kalu must first
be endorsed by the Nigeria Football Federation before he can vie for the seat.
But the
federation must also consider section one of article 13 of the FIFA statutes on
such election.
The section
spells out conditions a candidate for the office of FIFA President must meet.
The article puts it this way:
The candidate
shall have played an active role in association football (as a board member,
committee member, referee and assistant referee, coach, trainer and any other
person responsible for technical, medical or administrative matters in FIFA, a
Confederation, Association, League or Club or as a player) for two of the last
five years before being proposed as a candidate (cf. art. 24 par. 1 of the FIFA
Statutes).
It is against
this background that the Nigeria Football Federation, even if it wants to
endorse Kalu, may not be able to do so as the amiable football -loving former
governor may not meet the above requirements.
Amaju Pinnick,
President of the Federation said on television Monday that the federation would
meet to discuss Kalu’s interest in FIFA presidency. A member of the federation
said last night that their hands were tied by the statutory requirements to
endorse Kalu. Another member of the federation also advised that the former
Governor ‘’should be wary of people who would want to defraud him’’.