The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced that they have agreed to a multi-year partnership with a top Italian football club, AS Roma.
According to the statement released by the football house, the partnership deal, 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” the statement said.
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. ASRoma’s Head of Academy, Massimo Tarantino and Paul Rogers, Head of Strategy at Roma.
The Nigerian Minister of Youth and Sports Mr Sunday Dare and the Permanent Secretary Of the Ministry Mr O Olusade were on hand to also endorse the partnership.
“We are excited about this unique partnership with AS Roma,” said NFF President Amaju Pinnick.
“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 the chose to partner with Nigeria over any other federation in Africa,” he said.