Sports
‘NPFL’ll Soon Be Most Watched League’
President of the Spanish foot
ball league (LaLiga), Javier Tebas, at the weekend in Abuja said the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) would soon be the most watched league in Europe.
Tebas who spoke during the official commissioning of the LaLiga office in Abuja said this would materialise in view of the Spanish league’s partnership with its Nigerian counterpart.
The opening of an office in Nigeria by LaLiga is part of the implementation of a technical and commercial partnership recently signed.
LaLiga signed the partnership with the League Management Company (LMC), who are the organisers of the NPFL.
The LaLiga President noted that the Spanish league, being one of the top leagues in the world, attracts a lot of media attention worldwide.
He said its partnership with the NPFL would therefore draw a lot of media attention to the Nigerian league.
“Our vision is very clear. We want to see the NPFL get better in terms of its quality and organisation.
“I am convinced that in a few years from now, the NPFL will be the most watched in Europe.
“Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will also come here to play in Nigeria,’’ Tebas said.
He said part of the partnership deal was the LaLiga tour by 40 players selected from the NPFL into an All-Star team.
NAN reports that during the team’s tour of Spain, it will participate in the prestigious Carranza LaLiga World Club tourney and also play a friendly
match against Valencia CF.
Also, Antonio Baradas, the LaLiga Africa Representative based in South Africa, expressed satisfaction with the location of the office in the high-brow Maitama district of Abuja.
“I am impressed by the quality of materials used in equipping the office.
“It is a very conducive place for us to work on making the NPFL-LaLiga partnership a success.”
He said LaLiga would invest in the grassroots of Nigerian football, adding that a lot of talents abound in the country.
“The talents are here. We have to work with what you’ve got.
“We have a contract signed for five years and hopefully we can extend it beyond that for a long time to come,’’ Baradas said.
Simililarly, the Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria, Alfonso Barnuevo, said the partnership between LaLiga and the NPFL marked the beginning of a solid presence in Nigeria.
He said it would be consolidating what has already been achieved.
“As Spanish Ambassador, I have to express my satisfaction that one of the strongest institutions in Spain, and probably one of the best known worldwide, LaLiga, has established an office in Nigeria.
“I see a bright future ahead,’’ Barnuevo said.
Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), described the event as another major milestone and a new dawn for Nigeria.
“We are delighted that very early in the tenor of this partnership, a lot of positives are being recorded.
“This opening of the LaLiga Office represents another landmark in the partnership and will facilitate effective collaboration between the two leagues,’’ he said.
Tidesports source recalls that LaLiga Foundation, a charity arm of LaLiga, recently announced a grant of 56,000 Euros and equipment to El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club of Maiduguri.
The grant was to support the club in the response to the insurgency which forced the club to play home league fixtures in other cities for almost three seasons.
Nigeria is the second African country after South Africa to have an office of a major European League.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.