A Tree is Best Measured When It’s Down: On FIFA’s suspension of Nigeria

By Eric Beard

The official FIFA statement read: ”The FIFA emergency committee decided today, October 4 2010, to suspend the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with immediate effect on account of government interference.”

As if crashing out of the World Cup wasn’t hard enough, supporters of the Super Eagles will be devastated to hear that FIFA has banned them from all competitions indefinitely. And yes, that includes the African Cup of Nations qualifying. Controversy is, of course, nothing new for Nigerian Football, who are the perennial underachievers of Africa, despite having a squad that should be the envy of the continent. Though arguments can and will certainly be made that FIFA is not punishing the governing body of Nigerian Football, but rather the players and fans, FIFA was right to take a stand. Let me explain.

(Source: matchcentre)