TheCable

Linus Mba, FIFA referees advisor and consultant to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on refereeing, has become the first casualty of the FIFA suspension order on Nigeria.

Mba was appointed three weeks ago as the match commissioner for the Sierra Leone-Seychelles African Cup of Nations qualifier in Freetown on July 19, but he has now been replaced.

On Monday, the retired FIFA referee and former member of the CAF Referees Committee received a letter from CAF conveying his replacement.

The letter, signed by Amr Fahmy, manager, Nations Cup said in part: “l regret to inform you that due to the suspension of the Nigeria FA, we had to temporarily suspend all appointments for any officials/referees from Nigeria, so we were left without any choice but to replace you for the above-mentioned match.”

Mr Fahmy regretted the “price that experienced men like yourself, good servants of African football, have to pay.”

Apart from Mba, other Nigeria teams are on the verge of suffering similar fate unless the ban is lifted before Wednesday.

The U-17 team might not travel to Congo DR as planned on Wednesday for an Africa Youth qualifier; while the Super Falcons are set to miss out on the draw for the African Women Championship in Windhoek, Namibia, this weekend if the ban is not lifted.