Exclusive: How I Led A Cabal In Sports, FIFA Is Corrupt – Amos Adamu (VIDEO)

A former DG of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Amos Adamu has disclosed that he led a cabal in Sports in Nigeria during his tenure in office before his retirement.

In this interview with Aderonke Bello of Naij.com in Abuja, the former FIFA and CAF Executive member who was banned from footballing activities for corruption said he was used as a sacrificial lamb by Sepp Blatter, the now suspended FIFA President.

He also explained that FIFA is run like a mafia and also admitted that FIFA is a corrupt organization.

Read the excerpts:

Amos Adamu

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Naij.com: How has life been outside football?
Adamu: Life has been normal for me. I don’t think there is life after football because am already in sports. I did not come into sports by the way. I have a PhD degree in sports administration.

All my life, all my work have been in sports. Even when am not doing anything official, it’s still sports. I talk to people on sports everyday and talk to my students about sports.

Watch the exciting interview (the article continues below):

Many of the children that I lectured and are now doing well in sports like the secretary of the Nigeria football federation when he was doing NCE, Alhassan Yakmut, the current DG of the national sports commission. My friends are mostly in sports. My life is all in sports.

Naij.com: You were a lecturer at a time, what do you think about the level of education especially sports education in the country looking at the fact that sport has deteriorated? What has gone wrong? What can we do?

Adamu: Let me correct you. Sports have never gone down. For example Nigeria just became champions of the world at U-17 level.
Which aspects of our lives do we go out to compete with the rest of the world and we come out as number one; is it education, is it agriculture, is it military?

People have the perception that if you go for an even and you don’t win gold, you are going down. NO. Every individual has his own personal best. Its like asking you to come run 100 meters and am rating you with the best in the world. Maybe in your life you have never run 100m in 20 mins and am putting you on a track and you ran 19mins, have you not done your personal best?

People always look at us like we are not doing well in sports but people should appreciate what we do in sports. But people should look at what investment Nigeria is putting into this games. We are not investing and we want to reap.  Put more investment there like it is in other sectors and sports will prevail.

When you look at Africa, we are number one in more than 60% of all sport in the world. In Chess, we became number one in the world. That is to show that sports giving Nigeria a good image.

Usually when you go to anywhere in the world and you say you are from Nigeria, the first thing that strikes you is football, sports.
We in sports, (not those who veer off their profession and come to sports like accountant and soldiers) because most of the time they come to corrupt us in sport.

Professionally I think we are trying our best and educational wise we have a lot of people in sports. Today, people not appreciate what sport is. When we started in the university, they called us jumpology, they think we are not using brain,we are just going on the pitch and playing but now you see  can make money in sport.

The production of physical education teachers in the country is not much and so we are just coping. Now people have realised that sport is a great thing and people are coming in and I believe we are progressing.

Naij.com: You were banned by FIFA and it was a serious tussle. You were accused of corruption, how corrupt are you?
Adamu: What is my corruption? They say there was this bidding for the world cup and people came from America saying they wanted to develop football in Nigeria. They said they wanted they would build pitches for us and how much does a pitch cost? N200,000 and N800,000 in every zone for the pitches.

They say ‘can we give the money to you?’ I said no its not about the money. Do your thing and buy your pitches and bring it to Nigeria by importing it.

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Am not going to play football and it’s for the development of football for the country. In that situation everyone started saying Adamu is corrupt. I say am not corrupt. My conscience was clear that I was not corrupt. I went through the right process.

Korea wrote in writing and FIFA saw it that they will build pitches for us if we vote them for the world cup. Australia, England wrote the same thing and FIFA knew about it. I don’t see any difference between the all the ways we were approached to vote for bidding countries.

Naij.com: Somebody once accused you of leading a ‘cabal’ in sports. Up till now people still talk about the cabal you left. Did you really lead the cabal?

Adamu: Yes I led the cabal. Who are the cabals? The professionals. Even the person who accused me of leading a cabal does not have any background in sports.

Before I left the NSC, in 60 years that Nigeria had been competing in the Olympics, Nigeria won a total of 23 medals. Out of those 23, 20 were won during my time in power. When I left, they went to the Olympics in England and didn’t win anything.

If I didn’t lead a cabal, would they have achieved those things? When you want to do the right thing, you must get the people to help you do the right thing or else you would not achieve anything.

I can boast that the best we had in sports in Nigeria was during my time. All the gold medals we had at the Olympics was during my time.
Yes, am a mafia yes but my actions produced results. I remember when some ministers were coming in, it was to remove Amos Adamu.

They would say that man has problems, when they come and they see the good things am doing they change their mind.
For me actually, I do not know what is a cabal, my name is Amos Adamu. If you say am a cabal and what am doing is right and producing positive results, yes I accept am a cabal.

Naij.com: There was a video to that effect…?
Adamu: There was nothing more than that in the video. They edit video and show the world what they want. If you want the video I can give you the complete video.

Naij.com: Do you think it was a set up?

Adamu: It must be. I told Sepp Blatter (FIFA president) then that this you are doing because you want people to think you are fighting corruption will come back to haunt all of you there. It will haunt everybody saying they will provide pitches for everybody who votes for them.
What is making people see me as corrupt is because am no longer in charge and you are presenting me as corrupt but this things will come back to haunt people.
Looke at Jerome Vacke (FIFA PS), South Africa gave him millions to give CONCACAF, what is the money for? You can hide truth for a time but it will come out after some time.

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Do you think Blatter’s hand was the unseen hand in your ban and all that? I know there are other reasons why they took it like that. I can tell you one of them. They told me this is not about you but about your country.

They said ‘while we were hosting U-17 here in your country, your president signed a document for FIFA that they should do security and Nigeria will pay after the tournament.’ ‘When they finished the tournament, Nigeria did not pay them the $40m and they have a letter from the president.’

Naij.com: Who was the president then?
Adamu: Musa Yar’Adua was the president then. I was there when they were signing the documents and fighting about it. I said the president is sick and cannot approve the funds until he was well. The president didn’t survive and they said they can never trust a Nigerian to even be the CAF president again.

Naij.com: I read a piece somewhere and you were quoted saying your ban was a sort of sacrificial? What sacrifice will that be sir?
Adamu: Sacrificial because Jonathan was going for election and they will say I was corrupt. The leader seeking power will say he will fight corruption and Jonathan said so and he dealt with me.

Naij.com: You had a good relationship with Blatter?
Adamu: You see when interest comes in its no longer a relationship.

Naij.com: What is your relationship with Issa Hayatou (CAF and acting FIFA president)?
Adamu: It is cordial, very cordial.

Naij.com: How did Hayatou reacted to your ban?
Adamu: He was not happy. He talked about it and when you are fighting a mafia like FIFA it’s hard. When a mafia wants to deal with you, they will deal with you no matter what you do. They will suppress the truth.

They told me to resign and I didn’t. I fought for the truth until they booted me out. They took money, I never took money.

A company in London gave Blatter free accommodation during the Olympics and he accepted it and when Britain did not win the bidding, they cancelled it and it was all in the open. Is that not corruption? These things have gone and I have forgotten all about it.

Naij.com: Sir you cannot forget all about it. Few weeks ago FIFA opened a probe on you. What is your take?
Adamu: I have written to FIFA asking what they are probing me for

Naij.com: Has anyone contacted you to know your take on things?
Adamu: Nobody has

Naij.com: You are not afraid of any probes?
Adamu: If you on the ground will you be afraid of falling down again? The worst has happened. I can face anybody. My hands are clean.

 

 

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