MTN, NPFL, La Liga Announce Partnership for Grassroots Football

MTN Nigeria, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and La Liga have announced a partnership to support the development of grassroots football in Nigeria, through the establishment of the NPFL/La Liga U-15 Youth League.

The announcement was made at a press conference on April 21, at Ikenne, Ogun State, with representatives of MTN, NPFL, LaLiga and ValueJet in attendance.

The partnership will ensure the continuous local and international exposure for Nigerian youth football, capacity building for players and coaching talents, which ultimately contribute to the advancement of developmental football in the country.

In addition to making the youth league more attractive, there will be a one-week coaching seminar which will see seasoned La Liga coaches interact with their local counterparts on modern youth coaching techniques ahead of the tournament. 

Forty NPFL coaches, national team coaches as well as other youth coaches across the country will benefit from the seminar.

According to Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the League Management Company responsible for the management of the NPFL, the tournament creates an opportunity to grow grassroots football in Nigeria.

“We are extremely delighted to have MTN as the Elite Partner and supporter of the NPFL/La Liga U-15 youth league which has been going on since 2017. It is worthy to note that this year’s (2022) edition is the fourth.  Some of the players who participated in the first and second editions have been called to play and captained the U17-national team and the U-20 national team, whilst others ply their trades abroad, which has been a great source of revenue for our participating clubs.”