Nigeria’s NFF clarifies its position on Gianni Infantino amid resignation speculation

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has rejected claims that it called for Gianni Infantino to step down as FIFA president, insisting that it has never taken such a position.

The clarification follows reports suggesting that Nigeria’s football governing body had backed an appeal for Infantino to resign, despite public support for the FIFA president from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

In a statement published on its official X account, the NFF described the reports as false and said there had been no request from the federation for Infantino to leave his post.

“Contrairement a ce qui a ete rapporte, notamment sur les reseaux sociaux, la @thenff n’a jamais demande et ne demande pas au president de la FIFAcom, M. Gianni Infantino, de demissionner de son poste de PRESIDENT DE LA FIFA.”

The federation followed that message with a further rejection of the claims.

“C’est un mensonge pur et simple. Veuillez ne pas en tenir compte.”

The statements were issued to address information circulating about the NFF’s alleged position on Infantino’s leadership of FIFA. The federation said the reports should not be taken into account, making clear that it had neither previously demanded nor was currently demanding his resignation.

The speculation had also been linked to the wider position of African football’s governing body, with the reports indicating that the NFF had adopted a stance at odds with CAF’s public support for Infantino.

However, the NFF’s official response sought to remove any uncertainty over its position. Rather than supporting a call for Infantino to leave FIFA, the federation said that claim was entirely untrue.

The Nigerian federation is headed by its president, Ibrahim Musa Gusau.

The statement from the NFF is the only position attributed to the organisation in the report. It directly addresses the resignation rumours and denies that the federation has sought Infantino’s departure from the FIFA presidency.