Person with knowledge of situation says Nigerian president drops plan to suspend national team

AP source: Nigeria drops threat to suspend team

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has dropped a plan to suspend the national soccer team because of its poor World Cup showing, a person with knowledge of the situation has told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement had not yet been made Monday.

FIFA did not immediately confirm the development, but had set a deadline for the Nigerian government to withdraw to drop its suspension threat by 6 p.m. local time, or face harsher sanctions from soccer’s governing body.

FIFA regulations forbid governments from interfering in national soccer programs and it has suspended countries for breaking the rules — a ban that extends to club teams, referees and officials.

A presidential spokesman announced last Wednesday that Jonathan wanted the Super Eagles suspended for two years to allow Nigerian soccer to be restructured after it left the World Cup with just one point over three matches.

Earlier Monday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said at a news conference that his organization has taken “all adequate steps” to resolve the dispute.

“We do hope that everything comes back to normal,” Blatter said.

FIFA dispatched Nigeria’s most senior soccer official — Amos Adamu, a member of its 24-man ruling executive — to mediate with the government.

Nigeria is due to send a women’s under-20 team to its World Cup, which kicks off next week in Germany.

Nigerian club Heartland also stood to lose its place in the African Champions League if it could not play a home game against Egypt’s Al-Ahly scheduled next week.

The dispute between Nigeria and FIFA flared after the national team returned a disappointing tournament in South Africa.

Nigeria earned a 2-2 draw with South Korea in its final game. But it lost to Argentina 1-0 in its Group B opener and fell to Greece 2-1 in a game that turned on the first-half dismissal of midfielder Sani Kaita.

The suspension threat by Nigeria’s government also followed corruption allegations that plagued the team before the World Cup. Presidential spokesman Ima Niboro said last week that all funds directed toward the Nigeria Football Federation would be examined and “all those found wanting will be sanctioned.”

FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot could not confirm on Monday if Nigeria’s federation had yet been paid any of the $8 million prize money it is due from FIFA for taking part in the World Cup.

On Sunday, the federation fired its president and vice president in an effort to convince the Nigerian state president to drop the suspension threat.

Nigeria has previously drawn the ire of international soccer authorities. In January 1996, the Confederation of African Football suspended Nigeria from two African Cup of Nation tournaments after military dictator Sani Abacha withdrew the team. Nigeria had won the 1994 competition.

Associated Press Writers Graham Dunbar and Jon Gambrell contributed to this report.