NFF, AS Roma sign partnership to develop Nigerian football

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Friday announced it has agreed a multi-year partnership with top Italian football club, AS Roma.

The partnership, which was unveiled 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.

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.

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“We are excited about this unique partnership with AS Roma,” said NFF President Amaju Pinnick said at the unveiling ceremony.

“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.

Roma is one of the most respected football clubs in the world, with a very good reputation for consistently developing talented young players.

We feel that this partnership can be incredibly beneficial for the Nigerian national team at all age levels and Nigerian football as a whole.

Roma have shown an incredible support for the Super Eagles and have fully embraced Nigerian football fans, even launching a Pidgin Twitter account, and 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.”

Recall that Roma’s digital team worked with the Super Eagles in 2018 on their social media coverage of the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The team also worked with Nigeria during the just-concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt, using the hashtag #ForzaSuperEagles on social media.

The Serie A giants also became the first club outside of Nigeria to launch an official Pidgin account, which they did earlier this year, and the account is managed in Lagos.

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