By Ugochukwu ‘Thanos’ Ifeanyi

The dust raised by the election into the Executive Committee board if the Anambra State Football Association l, ANSFA might not have evaporated but one thing has stood out; Senator Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah and the ANSFA are redefining football elections in the country.

The ravaging coronavirus also known as COVID-19 may have come with its negatives and setbacks but the ANSFA is leveraging on the opportunities presented by the pandemic to set unparalleled record in football administration across the country.

Sequel to the previous elections held a few days ago, which was won by Sen Ifeanyi Ubah and the subsequent ploys by some unscrupulous elements in an attempt to form a kangaroo association and excos, the extraordinary meeting of the Anambra State Football stakeholders held yesterday and reached a few conclusions:

1. The Former Secretary of the FA, Mr Onyedika Chijioke has been missing in action as well as incommunicado and in line with FIFA, CAF and NFF guidelines, the extraordinary congress has approved the appointment of Mr Emeka Rafael as the Acting Secretary of the FA until Mr Chijioke Onyedika becomes available
2. The congress has approved the extension of the tenure of the Ifeanyi Ubah led executives until the conduct of the fresh elections
3. The Congress has approved and mandated that the 2020 election into the Anambra State FA, be held virtually in line with the covid-19 procedures
4. The Congress approved the amendment of the statute and gives the electoral committee, the power to conduct the elections virtually
5. The congress mandates the elections to hold virtually with a recording kept for documentation purposes
6. The above resolutions and mandates were approved and given legal power by the Congress

By the aforementioned points, the Congress recognised Ifeanyi Ubah as the authentic Chairman of the Anambra State FA, pending a reelection into the executive posts, which this time must be done virtually while Emeka Rafael becomes the Acting Secretary of the FA till further notice

Recall that Ifeanyi Ubah emerged the unanimous candidate for the post of Chairman in the forthcoming virtual election into the Anambra State FA

By so doing, Anambra State Football Congress has made history as the first Congress in the world to approve elections to hold virtually, Anambra State FA becomes the FA to hold elections virtually while Ifeanyi Ubah will become the First Person to win an FA elections in the world, virtually

This move is laudable and futuristic as it not only reduces the hassles of bringing people together, but also marks the start of digitalization of FAs in Nigeria and the World

Kudos to the Congress for the amazing achievement

It is now up to the electoral committee to fix a fresh date and modalities for the first ever virtual elections in the world even as the rest of the world watches on as Anambra State FA leads the way into the future