Former chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation, Kojo Williams has said that FIFA’s suspension of Nigeria did not come as a surprise to him because events that followed the elimination of Nigeria from the World Cup were against all known statutes that govern local and international football.
“I saw it coming,” Kojo said on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 in Lagos.
“I am disappointed that the Minister of Sports was not properly advised. FIFA has got structures and you cannot tamper with its structures and go free.”
Williams observed that the Sports Minister who is still new at the helm of Nigerian sports got it all wrong when he allowed himself to to be misled by his advisers.
“If they wanted to sack the Maigari board, they should have waited for the August election. That is when they should have executed all their plans. They are in a hurry. I don’t really know what they want. If they claim Maigari spent money, they should have asked him to explain how he spent the money. It is a shame,” Kojo said.
On his part, Paul Bassey, a member of FIFA and CAF committees said the FIFA sanction could have been avoided.
“I am shocked that we can still find ourselves in this kind of situation given our level of exposure. Some of us saw it coming. It is unfortunate”
