NIGERIAN football officials are hiding behind the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) regulation that prohibits government’s interference in football matters to divert grants and funds from sponsorship deals, an investigation by PREMIUM TIMES has revealed.

FIFA makes it mandatory for its members to be free from the control of the government as well as its finance-handling systems, such as Treasury Single Account (TSA), financial regulations and statutory audit inspections, in the case of Nigeria. But our weeks-long investigation showed that the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) exploited this independence to mismanage funds at its disposal, which include allocations from the public treasury.

Our investigation involved reviews of official documents from the NFF, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Presidency, the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as testimonies of people familiar with the operations of the football federation.

The sports ministry is particularly worried about public accountability problems associated with the finances of the NFF. It has not only set up an inter-ministerial probe committee to investigate alleged corruption at the football federation but has also referred the body to the EFCC.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/above-the-law-how-nigeria-football-federation-exploits-borderline-status-to-mismanage-funds/