The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has agreed a multi-year partnership with top Italian football club, AS Roma.
The partnership, which was unveiled on Friday in Abuja, will see the NFF and Roma collaborate together on and off the pitch, with one long term objective being for the club to help further grow and improve all levels of football in Nigeria.
Under the terms of the understanding , the two parties will share football, business and media expertise, with Roma offering the NFF technical and operational support and advice in the areas of youth coaching, player development, football administration and digital media best practices.
In return, the NFF will also collaborate with the AS Roma in their projects and development Initiatives in Nigeria.
In the coming months, senior NFF officials will travel to the Italian capital to observe Roma’s award-winning youth academy. As technical advisors in player development, Roma will work with the NFF to help introduce best practices for developing elite talent in order to improve the quality of players available to our domestic clubs and indeed national squad at all age groups.
Roma will also host knowledge-sharing sessions on football business and administration in Rome and set up digital and social media workshops in Nigeria for local clubs and officials.
On hand at the unveiling ceremony were NFF President Amaju Pinnick and his Vice Presidents, Seyi Akinwunmi and Shehu Dikko alongside the entire board members of the NFF. AS Roma’s Head of Academy, Massimo Tarantino and Paul Rogers, Head of Strategy at Roma. The Minister of Youth and Sport Mr. Sunday Dare and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mr. O Olusade were on hand to also endorses the partnership. “We are excited about this unique partnership with AS Roma,” said NFF President. “We have put in a lot of work to move our federation into a globally recognized space in-spite of the avoidable distractions and the fact that Roma chose to partner with Nigeria over any other federation in Africa is an indicator of how much respect our brand and this country has in the world of international football. We feel that this partnership can be incredibly beneficial for the Nigerian national team at all age levels and Nigerian football as a whole. We look forward to unveiling the exciting projects and initiatives this partnership will unlock.”
Manolo Zubiria, Chief Global Sport Officer at AS Roma, added: “This promises to be an exciting and ground-breaking partnership for both parties. We’re also open to working with the NFF and their partners to assess the feasibility of one day opening an official AS Roma academy in Nigeria.”
The two parties have also agreed to explore the possibility of AS Roma playing an exhibition match in Nigeria.
