It was obvious last night that the Nigeria Football Federation may
not endorse the candidature of former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor
Kalu for FIFA Presidency. Former Wimbledon star John Fashanu among many
others have been campaigning for Kalu to contest the election to replace
Sepp Blatter. However, Kalu has to be endorsed first by the
Nigeria Football Federation before he can contest for the position. The
federation also has to consider section one of article 13 of the FIFA
statutes of the section which specifies conditions a candidate running
for the office of FIFA President must meet.
The article states:
The candidate shall have played an active role in association football
(as a board member, committee member, referee and assistant referee,
coach, trainer and any other person responsible for technical, medical
or administrative matters in FIFA, a Confederation, Association, League
or Club or as a player) for two of the last five years before being
proposed as a candidate (cf. art. 24 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes).