Following Ibrahim Gusau’s resignation as president of the Nigeria Football Federation on Thursday, August 27, 2026, amid widespread criticism of his administration, almost every football stakeholder in the country is now in normalisation committee mode. Even President Bola Tinubu weighed in, calling for overarching football reforms. While I think that the president should have called for wholesale sports reforms (this is a matter for another write-up), everyone will have to fall in line for these reforms.Ordinarily, passionate Nigerian football followers should have been happy that Gusau’s administration was coming to an end, but it was the fact that the obnoxious NFF election guidelines were almost going to get him re-elected without any serious contest that raised a big, extra-curricular opposition, and the gentle Zamfara-born football administrator duly threw in the towel.However, let it be known that various ulterior interests in the NFF and Nigerian football, especially from the National Sports Commission, played active roles in forcing Gusau’s hand. These interests are currently burning the midnight oil to carve things out for themselves, going by the ‘naming ceremonies’ on several online and hardcopy outlets on who should be on the normalisation committee or even the next NFF Board. Today, Obafemi Martins made the laughable suggestion that Seyi Tinubu should be the next NFF president. The only saving grace for Nigerian football is that FIFA statutes will remain in force in the next few months, beginning with the formation of a normalisation committee by FIFA. One only hopes FIFA’s decisions will save Nigeria from selfish interests.While many people have concluded that the NSC will inaugurate the normalisation committee, it is actually FIFA’s call to institute it. At the same time, FIFA won’t just do it unless any of the already laid-down conditions are triggered. These are:Severe administrative breakdown, corruption, stalled electoral process, and third-party, i.e., government involvement.For me, ironically, none of these has happened. That we did not qualify for several World Cups is more of a moral issue peculiar to Nigeria, which led to calls for the Gusa to stand down, not an administrative breakdown, and there has been no proven official indictment or proven corruption case yet. The electoral process has yet to start, and the only government involvement is the NSC using unfair means to micromanage the national teams and other federations. So, after all is said and done, I won’t be surprised if FIFA refuses to sanction a normalisation committee and just gives the nod to the scheduled September 27 election. After all, the mandate of the NFF Electoral Committee, a panel set up by the NFF Congress earlier this year, is independent of the fall of Gusau’s NFF and is still extant for the next four years.The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Ordinarily, passionate Nigerian football followers should have been happy that Gusau’s administration was coming to an end, but it was the fact that the obnoxious NFF election guidelines were almost going to get him re-elected without any serious contest that raised a big, extra-curricular opposition, and the gentle Zamfara-born football administrator duly threw in the towel.However, let it be known that various ulterior interests in the NFF and Nigerian football, especially from the National Sports Commission, played active roles in forcing Gusau’s hand. These interests are currently burning the midnight oil to carve things out for themselves, going by the ‘naming ceremonies’ on several online and hardcopy outlets on who should be on the normalisation committee or even the next NFF Board. Today, Obafemi Martins made the laughable suggestion that Seyi Tinubu should be the next NFF president. The only saving grace for Nigerian football is that FIFA statutes will remain in force in the next few months, beginning with the formation of a normalisation committee by FIFA. One only hopes FIFA’s decisions will save Nigeria from selfish interests.While many people have concluded that the NSC will inaugurate the normalisation committee, it is actually FIFA’s call to institute it. At the same time, FIFA won’t just do it unless any of the already laid-down conditions are triggered. These are:Severe administrative breakdown, corruption, stalled electoral process, and third-party, i.e., government involvement.For me, ironically, none of these has happened. That we did not qualify for several World Cups is more of a moral issue peculiar to Nigeria, which led to calls for the Gusa to stand down, not an administrative breakdown, and there has been no proven official indictment or proven corruption case yet. The electoral process has yet to start, and the only government involvement is the NSC using unfair means to micromanage the national teams and other federations. So, after all is said and done, I won’t be surprised if FIFA refuses to sanction a normalisation committee and just gives the nod to the scheduled September 27 election. After all, the mandate of the NFF Electoral Committee, a panel set up by the NFF Congress earlier this year, is independent of the fall of Gusau’s NFF and is still extant for the next four years.The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State However, let it be known that various ulterior interests in the NFF and Nigerian football, especially from the National Sports Commission, played active roles in forcing Gusau’s hand. These interests are currently burning the midnight oil to carve things out for themselves, going by the ‘naming ceremonies’ on several online and hardcopy outlets on who should be on the normalisation committee or even the next NFF Board. Today, Obafemi Martins made the laughable suggestion that Seyi Tinubu should be the next NFF president. The only saving grace for Nigerian football is that FIFA statutes will remain in force in the next few months, beginning with the formation of a normalisation committee by FIFA. One only hopes FIFA’s decisions will save Nigeria from selfish interests.While many people have concluded that the NSC will inaugurate the normalisation committee, it is actually FIFA’s call to institute it. At the same time, FIFA won’t just do it unless any of the already laid-down conditions are triggered. These are:Severe administrative breakdown, corruption, stalled electoral process, and third-party, i.e., government involvement.For me, ironically, none of these has happened. That we did not qualify for several World Cups is more of a moral issue peculiar to Nigeria, which led to calls for the Gusa to stand down, not an administrative breakdown, and there has been no proven official indictment or proven corruption case yet. The electoral process has yet to start, and the only government involvement is the NSC using unfair means to micromanage the national teams and other federations. So, after all is said and done, I won’t be surprised if FIFA refuses to sanction a normalisation committee and just gives the nod to the scheduled September 27 election. After all, the mandate of the NFF Electoral Committee, a panel set up by the NFF Congress earlier this year, is independent of the fall of Gusau’s NFF and is still extant for the next four years.The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State While many people have concluded that the NSC will inaugurate the normalisation committee, it is actually FIFA’s call to institute it. At the same time, FIFA won’t just do it unless any of the already laid-down conditions are triggered. These are:Severe administrative breakdown, corruption, stalled electoral process, and third-party, i.e., government involvement.For me, ironically, none of these has happened. That we did not qualify for several World Cups is more of a moral issue peculiar to Nigeria, which led to calls for the Gusa to stand down, not an administrative breakdown, and there has been no proven official indictment or proven corruption case yet. The electoral process has yet to start, and the only government involvement is the NSC using unfair means to micromanage the national teams and other federations. So, after all is said and done, I won’t be surprised if FIFA refuses to sanction a normalisation committee and just gives the nod to the scheduled September 27 election. After all, the mandate of the NFF Electoral Committee, a panel set up by the NFF Congress earlier this year, is independent of the fall of Gusau’s NFF and is still extant for the next four years.The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Severe administrative breakdown, corruption, stalled electoral process, and third-party, i.e., government involvement.For me, ironically, none of these has happened. That we did not qualify for several World Cups is more of a moral issue peculiar to Nigeria, which led to calls for the Gusa to stand down, not an administrative breakdown, and there has been no proven official indictment or proven corruption case yet. The electoral process has yet to start, and the only government involvement is the NSC using unfair means to micromanage the national teams and other federations. So, after all is said and done, I won’t be surprised if FIFA refuses to sanction a normalisation committee and just gives the nod to the scheduled September 27 election. After all, the mandate of the NFF Electoral Committee, a panel set up by the NFF Congress earlier this year, is independent of the fall of Gusau’s NFF and is still extant for the next four years.The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State For me, ironically, none of these has happened. That we did not qualify for several World Cups is more of a moral issue peculiar to Nigeria, which led to calls for the Gusa to stand down, not an administrative breakdown, and there has been no proven official indictment or proven corruption case yet. The electoral process has yet to start, and the only government involvement is the NSC using unfair means to micromanage the national teams and other federations. So, after all is said and done, I won’t be surprised if FIFA refuses to sanction a normalisation committee and just gives the nod to the scheduled September 27 election. After all, the mandate of the NFF Electoral Committee, a panel set up by the NFF Congress earlier this year, is independent of the fall of Gusau’s NFF and is still extant for the next four years.The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State The Bureau of the FIFA Council can set up the normalisation committee. The FIFA Council comprises 37 members, but the Bureau is a sub-committee of the Council, set up for cases that require a rapid response like this one. The FIFA president heads the bureau and has six others as members, namely, the presidents of all six confederations – AFC, CAF, Concacaf, Conmebol, OFC and UEFA.The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, is in Zurich, Switzerland, to meet with the FIFA President on the formation of the normalisation committee. Still, if he thinks that it is just going to be a FIFA president decision and that of his friend and appointee, Amaju Pinick, I think he will be surprised. While I feel Infantino is a compromised person, going by his shenanigans during and after the 2026 World Cup, the less said the better regarding Pinick.For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State For me, it is even amusing that Dikko is in Zurich for this matter with a delegation that predictably includes Pinick. There is nothing he wants to tell Infantino that he couldn’t have said in a well-articulated letter or on a Zoom or Webex call. I guess it’s probably because he wants to leverage Pinick’s influence at FIFA. But, going by FIFA’s statutes, it’s not a decision for Infantino to make; rather, it is that of the Bureau of the FIFA Council. With the recent disagreement over selling football to some venture capitalists, setting up a normalisation committee might not be a straightforward Infantino matter. Infantino must know he has to tread more carefully ahead of his bid for re-election next year to avoid drawing further ire from his Confederations.To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State To set up the normalisation committee, there are considerations as follows:Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Who has authority to set up a normalisation committee? Only the Bureau of the FIFA Council has the authority to decide when the intervention of the normalisation committee is necessary.Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Who selects members of the normalisation committee? Once the bureau has given the normalisation committee a green light, FIFA will collaborate with the relevant confederation, which in this case is the Confederation of African Football. The local Ministry of Sports may also be involved to identify appropriate candidates.Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Background eligibility checks: This is more complicated. The nominated members of the normalisation committee must successfully undergo formal background eligibility checks conducted by the FIFA Review Committee guided by FIFA Governance Regulations.Related NewsRangers will fight more after CAFCL draw – IlechukwuOgoni youths oppose oil resumption without state creationOlympic qualifiers: NFF names Eguavoen Falcons interim coachComposition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Composition: There is no set number for the normalisation committee.Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Rather, it is expected to be a manageable, selective group of independent professionals chosen for their competence and integrity.Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Temporary control: For starters, the normalisation committee is a temporary arrangement and will completely replace the existing executive leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Mandate: The normalisation committee will manage daily operations, audit finances, and rewrite local statutes in accordance with FIFA’s global best standards.Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Electoral mandate: By default, the normalization committee becomes the independent electoral body that will organize and run fair, transparent elections for a new permanent executive body.Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Conflict of interest rule: For the purpose of ethics and neutrality, members of the normalisation committee will be exempted from running for any official position in the election.Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Some implications of the normalisation committee, if inaugurated:The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State The handwriting should be on the wall for the NSC that, given the privilege of nominating members on the normalisation committee, Nigerian-styled political nuances should not be factored into its suspicious tactics and antics.Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Nigerians who have the interests of the country’s sports at heart should be ready to protest to FIFA should any shady or dodgy character be named to the Normalisation Committee.It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State It is not impossible that even Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who is the current Acting General Secretary of the NFF, may not be allowed anywhere near the Normalisation Committee.Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Nigerians should also be preparing to submit memos on what the electoral processes in the NFF board should be like. If there is any positive take-home from this whole process, it has to be the re-drawing of the NFF statutes and electoral guidelines. Finally, the electoral guidelines that will preclude the cultic process that gave power to State FA Chairmen are here. I hope this new process will also retire several State FA Chairmen who have become the Paul Biyas of Nigerian football.Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Hopefully, the Olympic Games and AFCON qualifiers do not get subsumed in this bureaucratic conundrum.Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State Akinsemola, a sports enthusiast and public affairs analyst, writes from Akure, Ondo State