The
League Management Company has announced that it is working on a
legislation aimed to check Nigerian firms sponsoring foreign clubs and
leagues. The LMC says the move is to help in curbing capital flight from
the nation’s football industry to overseas.
The LMC has revealed that it intends to
work with the Nigeria Football Federation and the National Sports
Commission to push the Federal Government for the enactment of a
legislation by the National Assembly that will make it mandatory for
Nigerian companies entering into sponsorship deals with European clubs
to pay some percentage of the net worth of the deal to the domestic
league.
The
company said on its website that its Chairman, Shehu Dikko, re-echoed
the LMC’s position at the recent World Leagues Forum inaugural meeting
in London which sought a percentage of European Leagues’ broadcast and
other commercial partnerships deals secured from Nigerian organisations
for the airing of live games and other activations in the territory.
Dikko said, “Our biggest challenge is
the struggle for the hearts of our fans and the proliferation of
European football on television and promotion of foreign clubs contents
by Nigerian companies. The intrusion of these broadcasts has made it
more expensive to go to the stadium as just about N50 can get the
average fan into a viewing centre to see the foreign leagues and we are
saying they should pay development grants in the form of solidarity
payments to us as they do to the lower leagues in their country.”
Dikko lamented that investable funds
that would have accelerated the development of football in the country
were being channeled to foreign leagues/club deals while the domestic
league and clubs are left to struggle.
While Alhaji Aliko Dangote has made
public his desire to buy over Arsenal in the English league, Nigerian
league sponsors Globacom have sponsorship deal with Manchester United.
Beverage manufacturers Chivita also have a subsisting sponsorship deal
with the Manchester team. Sterling Bank played hosts to their partners
Arsenal in Lagos last month just as Standard Chartered Bank has
international relationship with Liverpool.
LMC officials said that they were
encouraged by international scholars who are into sponsorship and
marketing. They said that Dikko’s view was supported by the three guest
speakers at a workshop organised by the Lagos Businness School – Dr. Jim
Pulcrano, a visiting Professor and member of EMBA Teaching Team; Mr.
Kelvin Roberts, Editorial Director, Sports Business Group and Robert
Matsauki, former Technical Director of Association of National Olympic
Commissions of Africa.
Roberts was quoted as saying, “The
position of the LMC is reasonable and it is something that could be put
on the table and negotiated but it is also important that you identify
opportunities in the industry and utilise them.”
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