FIFA president Gianni Infantino is to visit Nigeria in June – NFF president

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is to visit Nigeria in June – NFF president

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is to visit Nigeria in early June, according to Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick.

Pinnick, who is facing opposition to his leadership from a rogue group, was at the FIFA Congress in Mexico and said Infantino was pleased by the efforts made by the current leadership

“The FIFA president says Nigeria is a big country and a massive footballing nation that should help with the new FIFA leadership’s drive to truly develop the game,” Pinnick said.

“He is excited about our various capacity-building and youth development programs and that is why he is coming to watch the NFF/ZENITH Bank Future Eagles Championship finals.”

That tournament is a youth development programme for under-13s and U15s started just this year, with the final to be held in early June.

“He sees a lot of potentials and dynamism in the current NFF leadership and says he would love to work with the NFF for the general development of the game,” Pinnick added.

During his visit, Infantino is also expected to meet with Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari.

This would be the FIFA president’s second visit to Africa since being elected. His previous visit, in March, took in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Gabon.