Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan banned the country’s soccer team from international competition for two years following their dismal showing at the World Cup, his office said Wednesday.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that Nigeria withdraws from international competition for two years to enable the country to put its house in order,” spokesman Ima Niboro told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.
Nigeria finished bottom of their group in South Africa with just one point from three matches.
They lost to Argentina and Greece and drew with South Korea.
Rotimi Amaechi, governor of a key oil-producing state, Rivers, who heads a special presidential task force on the World Cup campaign, said Nigeria would write to soccer’s world governing body FIFA to explain its decision.
“We went to the World Cup and found all sorts of problems and we felt we should sit back and look inward,” said Amaechi.
Jonathan also ordered an audit into how the funds allocated for the team at the World Cup were used.
The decision will put Nigeria on a collision course with FIFA who take a dim view of any political interference in the independent running of national federations.
“We have not received any official information on this subject. However, in general, the position of FIFA concerning political interference is well known,” a FIFA statement said.
FIFA has already voiced its opposition to French government involvement as the fall-out from the 1998 champions’ first round exit continues.
Raymond Domenech’s squad were sent packing out of the tournament after losing 2-1 to South Africa bringing the curtain down on a dreadful campaign that saw a players’ strike, insults hurled at the coach and a volley of criticism from politicians.
Domenech and ex-French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes were on Wednesday due to address a hearing of a French parliamentary commission into the debacle.
(This article is provided by NewsCore, which aggregates news from around News Corporation.)