TheCable

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has set up a four-man panel to unravel the slip that resulted in Nigeria forfeiting the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Algeria.

FIFA punished Nigeria for fielding Shehu Abdullahi, a player not eligible for the game.

“The committee has two weeks to submit its report,” said Amaju Pinnick, NFF president, in a statement on Wednesday.

“It will have the responsibility of thoroughly investigating how the slip came about and those who were responsible, recommend appropriate sanctions and also make other recommendations that will forestall this kind of error in the future.”

Pinnick also charged the legal department of the federation to henceforth work closely with the legal committee to ensure the enforcement of the code of conduct enshrined in the contract of all coaches.

He added that henceforth, the NFF would visit any violation of the code with stiff sanctions as enshrined in the code and the coaches’ respective contracts.

“People will as from now take responsibility for their actions, inactions, misconduct, negligence and downright ineptitudeness,” he said.

“We cannot continue to go on this way. What happened was a major gaffe and we will no longer condone this level of indolence and unseriousness.

“People must change their general attitude and their approach to work henceforth, or be ready to face sanctions.”