NFF: Chris Emeruwa declares for Presidency, vows to lift Nigerian football

The Head of Safety and Security in the Confederation of Africa Football, Christian Emeruwa, on Tuesday in Lagos declared his intention to run for the presidency of the Nigeria Football Federation.
The NFF at the Annual General Assembly held in Lagos in August picked Benin, Edo State as the venue of the elections fixed for September 30.
Emeruwa told the media that he had all the experience and exposure to take Nigerian football to the next level and make it compete with the world’s best practices.
He stressed that it was time for a change in the administration of the game in the country so that football can move forward as expected by its teeming fans in Nigeria.
The football administrator who worked at the NFF for 11 years under three different Secretary Generals stressed that the forthcoming election was not a do-or-die affair, stressing that he would tackle the numerous problems affecting the game in the country with ease.
Emeruwa said: “Many of the issues we need to address to boost the game are simple. We do not train our officials enough and it’s a big issue. They need to be updated often because football is big business and it is evolving scientifically.
“We have a dis-functional league, the referee system is outdated and there is little or no attention to the grassroots and schools. There is no regulation for our academies while our domestic league is not attractive and competitive.
“I want to rebuild the NFF into a world-class innovative organization with values which include transparency, excellence, social responsibility and accountability.”
He said that the current League Management Company would be scrapped under his leadership while there will be strict measures on the standards in all areas of our operations.
“The club owners will have to appoint their own chairman to head the league while the appointment of referees will be done by the NFF,” Emeruwa said, adding that there was need to respect women more.