By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
Top telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria, has signed a 3-year multi-million naira investment in Nigerian football with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to become the official communications sponsor of the Super Eagles and other national football teams.
The partnership deal, which was signed on Thursday, September 2, at Marriott Hotels, in Ikeja, is valued at N500 million and will enable the NFF to achieve self-sufficiency funding and also excite the interest of a new generation of young Nigerians in national team football.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, noted that the partnership was a strategic move of both parties to accelerate the growth of Nigerian football by leveraging on communication technology.
“Football is a unifying national obsession. It brings people together, breaks down boundaries, creates conversations, and inspires. We are privileged to have this opportunity to partner with the NFF and to be able to support all Nigeria’s National Football teams over the next three years.
“This is the start of what we hope will be an inspiring, productive, and value-adding partnership that can combine the role that technology plays, with the incredible experiences that football provides for the millions of Nigerians who follow the national teams,” Mr Toriola said.
In the view of the president of the NFF, Mr Amaju Pinnick, the investment would further enable the federation’s drive to attain a self-sufficiency funding model for football development in Nigeria.
According to him, “At the end of my tenure, I want to see Nigerian football 100 per cent self-funding without involving government, of course, we thank the government for the past support. I can say now that NFF that started off from point zero has attained 85 per cent of self-funding as at the signing of this partnership
“This is the only way and means to gain respect globally, continentally, and nationally. So, I want to thank the Minister of Sports because his impact is very encouraging. We are excited about our partnership with MTN because it is something that has been going on for a very long time.”
He further said that “We believe that in carrying out our culture of football development, we need a brand that has stood the test of time, the one that has gone through the thick of Nigeria’s system, and that brand is MTN. We consider this partnership as a great privilege because MTN is a dependable brand.”
Mr Pinnick, thereafter, encouraged other companies to emulate the communication giant by supporting the development of other sports in the country.
In his words, “All hands must be on deck to strengthen our competitive position not only in football but in other sports.”
Dipo Olowookere
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