NFF slams one-year ban on Coach Salisu Yusuf
News & Trends •
that the two players could have made the team to 2018 chan competition in morocco on the basis of their talent and performance1 the nigeria football federation nff committee on ethics and fair play has bannedsuper eagles chief coach salisu yusuffrom all footballrelated activities for one year with immediate effect1 members of the committee were malam nuhu ribadu chairman mainasara illo rev. justin okoroji and mr joshua onoja secretary1 he also saidthat the coach had been directed to pay 5000 us dollars as a fine to nff within three months1 according to him this decision wassequel to a complaint forwarded by the nff as well as the coachs defence against a documentary in which he was seen accepting 1000 us dollars from an undercover reporter disguising as a players agent1 olajire said that the ribadu-led committee made the following submissions1 established from the admission of coach yusuf and also found as a fact from the documentary and video evidence before it that he accepted the cash gift of 1000 us dollars offered by tigers players agency an undercover reporter purportedly interested in acting on behalf of players osas okoro and rabiu ali for their inclusion in the list of players for 2018 chan competition in morocco1 the committee found as a fact that it was not an error of judgment on the part of coach yusuf but a conscious and deliberate decision to have accepted the cash gift of 1000 us dollars from the decoy player agentundercover reporter purportedly interested in acting on behalf of players osas okoro and rabiu ali even though the evidence before the committee did not establish that his conduct influenced the choice of the two players1 the four-man committees decision was announced in a statement by ademola olajire nffs director of communications and made available to the news agency of nigeria nan on wednesday in abuja1 that coach yusuf did not accept the offer of 15 per cent of the anticipated transfer fees of the said players as there was no followup action on the promise1 that the act of the coach which was widely published on the british broadcasting corporation has a damaging effect on the reputation and integrity of nigerian football as he ought to have conducted himself more professionally in line with the code of conduct signed alongside his contract with the nigeria football federation as his conduct in public and in secret should be exemplary since coaches are role models1 that the fifa code of ethics nff code of ethics and fifa disciplinary code did not contemplate negligence or error of judgment as a defence to violation of any of the provisions as contained therein as punitive measures must be adopted to serve as deterrent to other intending offenders even though that he is a first time offender1 olajire also said that the committees decision was as follows in accordance with art. 22 fifa disciplinary code he is hereby banned for the period of one year from partaking or involvement or participation in any football related activity effective from the date of this decision1 he is also fined in the sum of 5000 us dollars to be paid within three 3 months beginning fromthe date of this decision1 he noted thatthe ethics committee also ruled that an appeal against the decision can be made to the nff appeals committee1 the nffs spokesmanquoted the committee as saying that it passed its verdict on the defendant based on article 20 21 1 and 21 3 of the nff code of ethics1 he explained that it also made reference to article10 and 11 of the fifa code of ethics in arriving at its verdict1