Lagos Football Crisis:
Stakeholders Petition FIFA
By Lanre Olaleye
Football stakeholders in Lagos may have taken the bull by the horn in removing football from politics to protect the sanctity of the round leather game.
The stakeholders which comprises of football administrators, referees, coaches, football agents and footballers have been watching the crisis rocking the Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) with keen interest and have reported the matter to world football governing body, FIFA to eventually resolve the crisis.
The stakeholders recently met at Agege Stadium, Lagos to review the matter and at the end of the meeting, it was decided to petition FIFA to safeguard football from politics.
This follows the suspension of the FA Chairman Fouad Oki amidst allegation of maladministration and unilateral decisions.
He was alleged to have been removed in a split 5-4 voting that took place in the boardroom of the Lagos FA secretariat on Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos.
Oki was also alleged to have slapped his Vice Chairman, Olawale Gaffar, after the voting process that ousted him from office.
He was also accused of violating the NFF statues by not attending the NFF Congress with no excuse and without the knowledge of the LSFA Board.
The APC stalwart in the state was also alleged to have changed the association’s logo without approval of the board and the congress.
He unilaterally denied the Nigerian Premier League (NPFL) Camera delegates access into the Mobolaji Johnson Arena to test-run their camera prior to the commencement of the 2023/24 league season.
He was also alleged to have unilateral increased the match expenses fees levied on clubs without due consultation with the clubs and the Board.
An eye-witness account at the Lagos FA secretariat told The Snoop that after his suspension, Oki, who could not control his emotion physically assaulted Gaffar for orchestrating his removal. The timely intervention of another board member, however, saved Gaffar from his grip. Even a television cameraman who tried to get the shots on tape was not spared as the ousted chairman punched the camera lense.
The fiasco, according to sources became a grave concern to Gov. Babajide Sanwoolu who directed his Chief of Staff, Tayo Ayinde to intervene in the matter with a view for amicable settlement. But this did not yeild positive result as Gafar was reported to have ruled out any possibility of working with the embattled chairman again.
Gafar's hard stand, according to findings is premised on the wish of the stakeholders who have vowed not to allow Oki return to lead the football association again
"He (Oki) has no business running the affairs of football in Lagos again,” a stakeholder reportedly told our correspondent.
“This is no longer football when there is direct confrontation by administrators and not footballers, especially from an FA chairman. It’s barbaric and unacceptable. I will not belong to a place where things are not done the proper way.
“It’s been drama at the Lagos FA all this while and its reached its height.” He concluded.
The stakeholders are said to have dispatched the petition to FIFA even as the world governing body was said to have acknowledge receiving the petition. But FIFA was said to be waiting on a report from the Nigeria football Federation (NFF) before it takes a decision on the matter.
However, The Snoop exclusively gathered that the embattled football chairman has been running from pillar to post to save his job. He was saying to have started meeting individual board members, stakeholders and top politicians in Abuja to give him a soft landing. But this has yet to yield dividend as it seems stakeholders are bent on easing him out for good.
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