Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick Loses Re-election Into FIFA Council

Former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Pinnick, has failed to secure re-election into the FIFA Council after falling short in the voting process at the 14th CAF Extraordinary General Assembly held on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt.

Naija News reports that Pinnick garnered 28 votes, missing out on one of the six available membership positions for Africa.

He fell just one vote short of Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya and Djibouti’s Souleiman Waberi, who secured the final two slots.

The newly elected members are Faouzi Lekjaa (Morocco), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania), Kanizat Ibrahim (Comoros), Souleiman Waberi (Djibouti), Hamidou Djibrilla (Niger), and Hani Abo Rida (Egypt).

The FIFA Council, the federation’s key decision-making body between FIFA Congress sessions, consists of 37 members elected for four-year renewable terms.

Pinnick was first elected to the council in March 2021 at the 43rd CAF Ordinary General Assembly in Rabat, Morocco, becoming the third Nigerian to hold a seat after Oyo Orok Oyo and Amos Adamu.

A former two-term NFF president (2014-2022), Pinnick was succeeded by Ibrahim Gusau.

Meanwhile, Patrice Motsepe has been re-elected as CAF president for a second term.