Ex-NFF chief Pinnick loses FIFA Council seat: What is Nigeria’s fate?

Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has lost his bid to be re-elected into the FIFA Council, Soccernet.ng reports.

The FIFA Council is the most powerful football decision making body, and it comprises of 37 members, who are elected across the various confederations. It is generally made up of the FIFA President, eight vice presidents and 28 other members elected by the member associations.

Pinnick has been a member of that body since 2021, when he won the elections in Africa. However, he has been campaigning for a second term in recent months.

Unfortunately, his efforts have come to waste as he lost his bid to claim one of the five available tickets for the men, following the elections that held at the Confederation of African Football General Assembly on Wednesday, March 12.

Pinnick was up against nine other contestants for the five tickets. They include; Hany Abou Rida (Egypt) who is seeking re-election; Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco) seeking re-election; Yahya Ahmed (Mauritania); Souleiman Waberi (Djibouti); Idriss Dialli (Cote d’Ivoire); Mathurin Chakus (Benin Republic); Augustine Senghor (Senegal); Djibrilla Pele Hamidou (Niger Republic); and Andrew Kamanga (Zambia).

The five male representatives were decided by the first five candidates with the highes votes. Unfortunately for Pinnick, at the CAF General Assembly, he just fell short by one vote.

He had just 28 vote, one short of Waberi and Yahya, who had 29. Rida and Hamidou also pulled 35 votes each, while Lekjaa had 49 votes. As such, they will be Africa's representatives at the FIFA Council.

What is Nigeria’s fate now that Pinnick is out of FIFA?

Pinnick is Nigeria's first representative at FIFA in many years, but his presence has not exactly done much for Nigeria.

Moreover, Africa's spot at the FIFA Women's World Cup has recently been reduced from five to four.

Aside from bagging rights and a position at the table, Pinnick's presence at the FIFA Council has changed much.

Meanwhile, the current President of CAF Patrice Motsepe won his re-election bid and will be in charge of African Football for the next four years.