Nations Cup: CAF gives Nigeria, Guinea go ahead to  play
*As FIFA lifts suspension provisionally

By Fidelis Ebu

ABUJA – It was jubilation galore as players of the Eagles heaved a deep sigh of relief that they would finally play the African Cup of Nations qualifier against the Syli National of Guinea, in Conakry following news of the provisional lifting of the indefinite suspension slammed on the country’s football by the world soccer ruling body, FIFA.

Musa Amadu, the Nigeria Football Association, NFA acting general secretary who was one of the figures at the centre of the conflict that led to the suspension, was however appreciative of FIFA’s soft pedaling and hoped the lifting of the suspension would be permanent.

“It has been an anxious one week. We are grateful that the suspension has been lifted even though it is provisionally and I hope it would be permanent”, Musa Amadu said last night.

Amadu, who was flanked by the NFA top management that included the deputy general secretary, Emmanuel Ikpeme  and Sanusi Mohammed, the assistant general secretary (Admin), said flight arrangement for the Eagles has been concluded.

The team are scheduled to leave for Conakry aboard a chartered flight today and return tomoprrow immediately after the game.

He stated that the directive from CAF has instructed that the Eagles/Syli National match would go ahead as earlier scheduled, which was why the federation has decided to embark on the trip and was optimistic of the team wresting the full points at stake in Conakry

Remarkably, Joseph Yobo, the Eagles captain said after the team’s training last night at the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium that the players were not deterred with the earlier suspension news.

“Such issues are for the administrators to tackle, and ours is to be on the pitch. We did not for a moment consider to stop training, and even if we did not eventually make it to Guinea, we would have calmly returned to our respective clubs hoping to participate in the next game”,  Yobo said.

Nations Cup: CAF gives Nigeria, Guinea go ahead to  play

The Super Eagles  will tomorrow play Guinea in Conakry after FIFA ‘provisionally lifted’ its suspension clamped on the country following the crisis that rocked the Nigeria Football Association, after a Lagos High Court nullified the election of Alhaji Aminu Maigari and others on September 26, 2010..

The NFA was banned on Monday for various reasons, including political interference.

This had thrown tomorrow’s Nations Cup qualifier in Conakry into doubt but the Eagles who had called on President Goodluck Jonathan to save the game in the country kept hope alive, training under the watchful eyes of Austine Eguavoen.

The decision to go ahead with the match was communicated to both countries by the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF, citing FIFA’s lifting of the suspension.

“The game will go ahead because the suspension on Nigeria has been provisionally lifted,” CAF Media Director, Suleiman Habuba told the BBC.

FIFA said it lifted the suspension until 26 October – the day after a court hearing where the players’ organization is expected to fulfil a promise to drop a lawsuit which sought to annul recent federation elections.

“The decision was taken after observing that the situation had taken a positive turn in recent days,” FIFA said in a statement.

“However, should the NFF still be embroiled in court actions or any other issue preventing it from working freely on that date, the suspension will be automatically confirmed until all problems have been definitely solved.”

NFF secretary general Musa Amadu confirmed that the Super Eagles will travel to Guinea for the scheduled match in Conakry tomorrow following FIFA’s ‘magnanimous’ decision.

“We are happy that the ban has been lifted even if it is temporary,” Amadu said.

“It will allow us to continue with our programs unhindered.”

The qualifying match was hanging in the balance after FIFA imposed the suspension on Monday, preventing Nigerian teams and officials from taking part in international matches and meetings.

However the man at the centre of the court cases, Harrison Jalla, president of the National Association of Nigerian Footballers, NANF said in Lagos yesterday that he decided to accept an out of court settlement to allow the Eagles play their qualifier against Guinea.

“We agreed for an out of court settlement to allow the Eagles play their match against Guinea because Adamu said if we do that he can get FIFA to lift the ban,” Jalla said, however, adding that “this is on the condition that the issues that took us to court in the first place will be addressed otherwise the case will go.”