Telecommunications company MTN has signed a sponsorship deal worth N500 million with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The contract was sealed at an official signing ceremony held in Lagos on Thursday. The deal will see MTN become the exclusive communications partner of the Nigerian national football teams, and is an annual contract renewable over three years.
President of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amani Pinnick, expressed his over the deal with MTN. “We are excited with our partnership with MTN because it is something that has been going on for a very long time,” Amani Pinnick said.
He acknowledged the potential influence of the deal on Nigerian football said that the sponsorship deal will bolster NFF books, adding that the federation has attained “85 percent of self-funding.” According to him, to carry out the culture of football development, the Nigerian Football Federation needs a brand that has stood the test of time; one that has gone through the thick of the Nigerian system, which MTN proved to be.
He said he considered the partnership with MTN as a great privilege and that it was his goal to see Nigerian football attain a hundred percent self-sufficiency funding model, at the end of his tenure.
Karl Toriola, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, said that the deal with the Nigerian Football Federation emphasizes the company’s strong desire to develop football in the country. “Right from the start of our operations in Nigeria in 2001, we have always connected with good cause. It is on having to invest in platforms that unite the nation, and there is no greater platform than football,” he said.
He said that MTN has a favourite slogan- “Nigeria, where football lives”, and that the company is living up to the slogan by showing support for football in Nigeria and its development.
According to him, MTN has shown support for football at various levels and has also supported other causes in football development. He added that as an organization, MTN looks beyond challenges to opportunities and promises, and takes it seriously that millions of Nigerians have passion for this great sport.
The partnership comes after the Nigerian Football Federation signed a deal worth N300 million with Air Peace to become the official airline sponsor of the Nigerian national teams on Wednesday.
