FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, Tuesday, completed his two-day working visit to Nigeria.
The 48-year-old who was accompanied by General Secretary, Fatma Samoura, spent some time with President Muhammadu Buhari, football administrators from across Africa and some corporate bodies.
Here’s what we make of the Swiss-born Italian’s first ever visit to West Africa.
- Nigerians are peaceful and loving
The saying that Nigerians are the happiest people on earth played out once again when Infantino visited the country. Despite the internal crisis engulfing the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as well as extreme hardship in the country, Nigerians were all united for a just course, to honour the FIFA boss.
- More World Cup slots for Africa
One of the high points of Infantino’s visit to Nigeria is his proposed expansion of the FIFA World Cup to accommodate two extra teams from Africa.
“I believe for the 2026 World Cup, we should have 40 teams and out of the additional eight teams we should have at least two more African teams,” he pledged.
“We are discussing this and I hope I will be able to convince everyone as well.”
- FIFA recognises Pinnick
NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, might not be popular with Nigerians but he sure has the backing of FIFA. Chris Giwa’s faction has constantly parades itself as the rightfully elected bunch but world football governing body thinks otherwise.
“I don’t think there is any crisis in football management in Nigeria,” Infantino revealed.
“There is an elected president in place and he is functioning. In a big country like Nigeria you are bound to see opposition that is what you are seeing.”
- Buhari shot himself in the foot
By admitting that Nigerians go the extra mile to rent generator when there is power outage, President Buhari not only exposed the nation but also painted it as one with a failed power sector.
“Majority of Nigerians are married to football,” the President said.
“In the rural areas, when there is no electricity and there is a game to watch, Nigerians go to the extent of renting small generators, popularly known as ‘I better-pass-my neighbour’ to watch the game.”
- Infantino aware of Nigeria’s decaying infrastructure
From fifth to 70th in the world, Infantino is definitely aware of the country’s decline in the round leather game and attributed it to the state of its infrastructures.
“When it comes generally to football development in Nigeria, work needs to be done in organisational structures, setting of training centres and better framework; a lot can be done.
