Pinnick loses re-election into FIFA council by one vote

Amaju Pinnick, former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has lost his re-election into the FIFA council.

Pinnick failed to secure the required votes to earn one of the six membership positions available for Africa on the council.

The former NFF president scored 28 votes in the election held at the 14th CAF extraordinary general assembly on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt.

Elected members are Faouzi Lekjaa of Morocco, Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya, Kanizat Ibrahim of Comoros, Djibouti’s Souleiman Waberi, Hamidou Djibrilla of Niger and Egypt’s Hani Abo Rida.

Pinnick had just one vote less than Yahya and Waberi who clinched the final two slots.

The FIFA council is the principal decision-making organ of the federation in the intervals of the FIFA Congress.

The council is comprised of 37 members elected by the FIFA Congress for a renewable term of four years.

Pinnick was the third Nigerian elected into the FIFA council after Oyo Orok Oyo and Amos Adamu.

He was elected into the council in March 2021 at the 43rd CAF ordinary general assembly in Rabat, Morocco.

Pinnick was a two-term president of the NFF between 2014 and 2022 and was replaced by Ibrahim Gusau.

Earlier, Patrice Motsepe was re-elected as CAF president for a second term.