After South Africa Coach Accuses Nigeria of Lobbying, FIFA Hands Pinnick Big Appointment
- Amaju Pinnick has been appointed as the deputy chairperson of the FIFA Men’s National Teams Competitions Committee
- This comes barely 48 hours after South Africa's head coach claimed teams lobbied to ensure Bafana Bafana were sanctioned in the World Cup qualifier
- Pinnick's appointment is crucial for African football, giving the continent a strong voice to shape policies that affect the game
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The former president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has bagged a huge appointment with the world's football governing body, FIFA.
Pinnick has been appointed as the deputy chairperson of the FIFA Men’s National Teams Competitions Committee, a position that gives him a strong voice in the corridors of world football.
This comes barely 24 hours after the South African national team head coach, Hugo Broos, fingered Nigeria after Bafana Bafana were sanctioned in the World Cup qualifiers, ThisDay reports.
Source: Getty Images
South Africa were docked three points and Benin Republic now go top of the CAF qualification Group C ahead of the final phase of the qualifiers.
FIFA found SAFA guilty and ruled that they had forfeited the game, as all points and three goals were awarded to the Cheetahs, leaving the group open.
Broos stated that some teams are lobbying, as he expressed shock over FIFA's ruling. The tactician said:
"I did not expect it and certainly not the way it went. The committee of sanctions was three times together in the period of the Lesotho game and then three weeks ago.
"They were three times together and in the three times, South Africa was not mentioned. And when they had the last meeting, we got a letter from FIFA that the case was reopened.
"Very strange. Why did it not happen in the previous sanction meetings of FIFA? So that means there has been a lot of lobbying behind the scenes.
"How can you have three meetings of committee of sanctions and don’t talk about South Africa and then suddenly, there is a letter from FIFA coming?"
Pinnick's appointment sees him become a member of FIFA's most important committees for the next four years.
The FIFA Men’s National Teams Competitions Committee is chaired by Robert Harrison of Paraguay, while Sheikh Hamad Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar serves as FIFA Council delegate, who will oversee all FIFA men’s tournaments.
For the next four years, they will oversee several tournaments, including the FIFA U20 World Cup, FIFA World Cup, FIFA U17 World Cup, Men’s Olympic Football Tournament, the FIFA Arab Cup and FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Source: Getty Images
Pinnick's appointment is crucial for African football as the continent will have a strong voice to shape policies and decisions that affect the game.
When Pinnick lost FIFA council re-election
Legit.ng earlier reported that Pinnick failed in his bid to return to the FIFA Council after losing his re-election during the CAF elections in March.
The administrator, who was seeking reelection, finished outside of the top five at the elections held at the CAF Extraordinary General Assembly in Cairo, Egypt.
The former Delta State FA chairman finished sixth with 28 votes behind Djibouti's Souleiman Waberi, who scored 29 votes.
Source: Legit.ng
