Football
Colin Udoh, Special to ESPN 7y

Nigeria, Morocco football authorities sign strategic pact

Nigerian and Moroccan football authorities have signed a strategic football development partnership agreement.

According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the partnership agreement, signed on Thursday, is a multi-faceted understanding which includes both the federations and the league bodies.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick and 2nd Vice-President/LMC Chairman Shehu Dikko signed separate Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) with their respective Moroccan counterparts.

Both Pinnick and Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaa (who is also Director of Budget in the Kingdom of Morocco) are Members of the CAF Executive Committee.

"The strategic partnership is for technical development, exchange of ideas and contacts, training support, friendly matches, use of facilities and joint marketing where necessary," said Dikko, who is also Chairman of NFF Marketing, Sponsorship and Television Advisory Committee and NFF Strategic Committee.

"Morocco has one of the best technical centres globally and they are still developing it, and they are delighted to make the facilities available for use by the National Teams of Nigeria and Nigerian Clubs. The Kingdom also has one of the most innovative structures in managing the domestic media rights of their National Teams and the elite League, which we intend to replicate.

"The agreement between the two league bodies is to collaborate in areas of mutual interest between the leagues and participating clubs.

"The Moroccan FA only recently set up an independent elite league body in line with global practice, and wants to learn from the LMC Governance Structure of the NPFL. On their side, they would help our clubs understand the structure and principles of community club ownership, elite players development, youth development and so on. It is all about fostering mutually beneficial relationships."

One day after signing the agreements with the football federation, Pinnick and Dikko were at the offices of a Moroccan multinational company with extensive business interests in Nigeria, where another MOU was also executed to explore the sponsorship of some activities in Nigerian Football including the NPFL. A steering group has been set up to ensure the conclusion and activation of the milestone MOU.

According to the NFF statement, these agreements represent another landmark feat by the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation, coming exactly one month after the N2.5 Billion, five-year partnership with Nigeria's foremost energy solutions company, Aiteo Group for payment of salaries of coaches of the national teams. The latest pact also sits comfortably with the ever-improving strong working relationship between the Governments of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Only last week, both Governments signed pacts to drive the implementation of a regional gas pipeline and fertilizer initiative. The proposed Morocco-Nigeria Gas Regional Pipeline will have a direct impact on 300 million people through the speeding up of electrification projects in West Africa.

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