Nigeria, Sept. 8 -- FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have directed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to suspend its ongoing electoral process and announced plans to send a joint assessment mission to Abuja as the world football governing bodies intensify scrutiny of the crisis engulfing Nigerian football.

The directive was contained in a letter dated 7 September and signed by FIFA's Chief Member Associations Officer, Elkhan Mammadov, and addressed to NFF Acting Deputy General Secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme.

The letter, which was copied to CAF, said FIFA and CAF are assessing the "legal, governance, administrative and electoral implications" arising from the recent upheaval in the NFF.

It said the assessment followed ...