Pinnick Blasts NFF Critics Over FIFA Grant Allegations

The former President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has expressed concern regarding the persistent demands for accountability in the organization’s financial and project management, stating that such criticisms are detrimental to the nation.

The NFF is still under fire for its handling of funds received from FIFA, with football enthusiasts circulating claims via social media that the body misappropriated funds from the FIFA Forward 2.0 Programme, for the construction of two mini stadiums, which were valued at $1.2 million each.

Although the country’s football governing body had since denied the claims, Pinnick, who was the president between 2014 to 2022 when the grants were allocated, has again come to the defence of the NFF and Nigerian sports institutions in general.

‘We should stop maligning institutions in Nigeria. I’m just appealing because it doesn’t make us look good on the international scene, Pinnick told Arise TV.

‘It de-markets this country. We just lost our bid to host the Commonwealth Games. I know what somebody told me about it.

‘Whenever we want to host any tournament, Nigeria is almost a red flag because we de-market this country by the minute.

‘If the government is even doing something good, I think we should complement them, work with them, and pray for them.

‘We don’t have any other country. Nigeria is the sweetest and the best country on this continent.

‘So when I see people say things, it makes me not enthused to be involved in government because the toxicity, the bitterness, hatred, and animosity are too much, when they don’t even know the truth.

‘When I travel abroad, we’re double-checked simply because we’re Nigerians. I don’t want to travel anymore’.

After missing out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Super Eagles are in for the African playoffs and potentially the inter-continental playoffs, and Pinnick didn’t fail to cite a potential barrier for travelling fans over such berating comments and scrutiny.

‘We’ll be at the World Cup by God’s grace, but how many people can get an American visa in Nigeria?

‘I’m not holding fault for the federation, but I’m an officer of the Federal Republic, and it is on us to say the truth when we see fit’.