Amazing! Dead referee to officiate a match in Nigerian premier league

– The lack of proper documentation has reared its ugly head in Nigerian football

– A football referee that died earlier in the year has been named to officiate a match this weekend

– The infighting in the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) is responsible for this latest mess

In what is a rather bizarre story, a dead referee has been named to officiate a match in the Nigerian premier league this weekend.

File photo of a Nigerian league match

Late Wale Akinsanya, who died in January has been named as the officiating referee of a match between Warri Wolves vs Giwa FC.

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The dead referee was named by a faction of the NFF, lead by Chris Giwa, a man who got a favourable ruling from a Nigerian court declaring him as the authentic president of the NFF.

Chris Giwa

Despite the court’s declaration, FIFA has insisted it only recognizes the faction led by Amaju Pinnick as the authentic NFF president.

But Giwa is adamant and has gone ahead to start running his own faction, even as the minister of sports, Solomon Dalung has issued a warning to both factions to desist from violence as they sort their differences.

FIFA had already warned that if Pinnick isn’t allowed to carry on as the NFF boss, Nigeria would face global suspension from football.

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Giwa was forced to give up the seat of the president of the NFF for Nigeria to escape the dreaded FIFA ban by the deadline of Monday September 8, 2014.

Fourteen months after, Giwa and his group are renewing claim to the leadership of the NFF and citing the court order as their excuse.

Meanwhile, Festus Keyamo, the lawyer to Amaju Pinnick,  has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase to immediately arrest Chris Giwa for threatening to take over the leadership of the NFF. 

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