NFF/NFA CRISIS: MAIGARI, 10 OTHERS TAKE FOOTBALL MATTER TO COURT

Maigari, finally takes football matter to court

*It’s time buying gimmick. Its time up - Tenebe

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Aminu Maigari and ten other members of his board have officially defied the often cited dictum of “football matters don’t go to court” in the wake of the current fight for the soul of the game between his organisation and another led by Jarret Tenebe which calls itself the Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

In the matter filed by origination summons, the eleven board members of the NFF filed the matter against the Inspector General of Police and Commissioner of Police Jubril O. Adeniyi at the Federal High Court in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/541/11. No date has been fixed yet for the matter.

NFF stabbed Ekeji with court issue

Ironically, the eleven plaintiffs did not file the matter as members of the NFF nor on behalf of the NFF, which is the podium that has brought them jointly to qualify to be together and sue. Neither were the National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) nor the NFA.

Called on phone for his reaction, Jarret Tenebe of the NFA said, “this suit confirms what we have been saying all the while that the NFF is not a juristic person that is why they cannot sue in the name of the NFF. So football matters can now go to court or what? We would apply to join the matter too. Can they in their individual capacities sue the police in a matter that is involving the illegal NFF? You can see they have betrayed the NSC Director General, Chief Patrick Ekeji, who begged the police and they have used that space of time to go to court. To us here, they are simply not proper before the court they have gone to. They want to use the court to buy time. It’s time up.”