Nigerian business leaders are investing heavily in football in Europe, according to reports. Some of them have begun purchasing football clubs in Europe.
Nigerians continue to be avid sports fans. Thus, athletic businesses in Nigeria have generated significant income for their owners and stakeholders.
Although football provides entertainment, it is also a valuable business in which Nigerian millionaires have identified and are making significant progress.…CONTINUE READING
African Fact Zone tweeted a list of Nigerian millionaires who have successfully purchased football teams in Europe.
Below are the Nigerians:
1. Kunle Soname (CD Feirense)
The Nigerian business magnate leads the list because he owns the Portuguese football team CD Feirense. In 2015, Soname made history as the first Nigerian to own a European football club, purchasing Feirense, a second-tier team in Portugal, as the principal shareholder.
CD Feirense plays its home games in Portugal at Estádio Marcolino de Castro, which has a capacity of around 5,500.
Soname, who is also the creator of Bet9ja, bought the Portuguese side two years after establishing the betting company through his corporation, Tavistock Global Resource Limited.
The Nigerian entrepreneur also owns the Remo Stars Football Club, a professional football team in the Nigeria Premier Football League based in Ikenne, Ogun state.
Here’s a tweet featuring Soname at his football club.
Kunle Soname owns Portuguese club, CD Feirense and NIgerian club, Remo Stars.
He also owns Nigerian sports betting company, Bet9ja.
Kunle Soname also owns private Nigerian airline, ValueJet ✨ pic.twitter.com/bd2iKH1m6D
— Yorùbáness (@Yorubaness) May 10, 2023
2. Shola Akinlade (Aarhus Fremad)
Shola Akinlade is the co-founder and CEO of Paystack. He holds the majority stake in the Danish team Aarhus Fremad.
The Nigerian tech genius purchased 55% of the shares in the 76-year-old Danish team, which competes in the Danish League’s second level. The shares made him the majority owner.
Akinlade founded Sporting Lagos FC, a Lagos-based football team that competes in the Nigeria professional football league.
With the purchase of the Danish club, Aarhus has become Sporting Lagos’ sister club. The Nigerian entrepreneur purchased the Danish club due to its financial problems.
Here’s a tweet with Akinlade from the team:
38-year-old Nigerian Software Engineer, Shola Akinlade owns Danish football club, Aarhus Fremad and Nigerian club, Sporting Lagos.
He is the CEO of Paystack, a financial technology company which was acquired by Stripe for $200 million in 2020. pic.twitter.com/HcXjVVVc81
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) August 14, 2023
3. Nneka Ede (Lusitano de Évora)
Nneka Ede, a businesswoman, is the only woman among Nigerian football team owners in Europe. She owns the Portuguese team Lusitano Ginásio Clube, MHC, popularly known as Lusitano de Évora.
The football club is based in Évora and competes in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth division of the Portuguese football league. She will face the 110-year-old Portuguese third-division team in June 2020.
Here is a tweet detailing Ede’s ownership of the football club:
https://t.co/WSvAQ3jrhb
Nneka Ede, a Nigerian entrepreneur, and business mogul wrote her name in the history books after purchasing Portuguese club side Lusitano Ginasio Clube, Futebol, SAD. pic.twitter.com/WSvAQ3jrhb
— OJA MEDIA NG (@OjamediaNG) December 24, 2020
