An All Stars cast of the Nigeria Professional Football
League (NPFL) players will embark on an international friendly tour of
Spain as part of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
between the the League Management Company (LMC) and the Spanish Football
League, LaLiga.
Chairman of the LMC, Shehu Dikko announced the firming of the plans
for the tour after a meeting in Abuja on Friday with LaLiga Africa
Representative, Antonio Barradas. He said the NPFL All Stars selected
side will play in the Carranza & LaLiga World Tournament and also
against Valencia CF. For the Carranza and LaLiga World Tournament, the
NPFL All Stars will play Malaga CF on August 12 and 13 but before then,
will play their first game in Spain against Valencia CF on August 10.
The Ramon de Carranza Trophy is a pre-season tournament organized by
Cadiz CF in memory of its former President, Ramon de Carranza. It has
been played since 1955 and is rated one of the prestigious summer
tournaments in Spain alongside the Teresa Herrera Trophy. Sevilla CF won
the inaugural edition in 1955 while Atletico Madrid are the defending
champions. Some of the top European and South American teams that have
participated in the tournament include 2012 winners, Club Desportivo
Nacional and Benfica of Portugal, Sampdoria of Italy, Flamengo and Vasco
Da Gama of Brazil amongst others.
The NPFL/LaLiga partnership was consummated at the Abuja Hilton on
April 26 and provides for extensive collaboration between the two
leagues in the areas of players development, management capacity
building and knowledge sharing.
“We are delighted to confirm that there will be an NPFL All Stars
team to participate World Tournament which is part of the pre-season
activities of the two Spanish Clubs, Valencia CF and Malaga CF on August
10, 12 and 13.
“The NPFL All Stars team will be made up of the best players in the
league this season and it will offer them the opportunity of showcasing
their abilities and possibly secure offers from any European club as the
match will be broadcast live on some European television channels”,
Dikko stated.
The LMC Chairman said the implementation of the friendly match
exchange is in line with the agreement with LaLiga to have clubs from
both leagues visit the other adding that it is expected that in the near
future, Spanish Clubs will undertake a friendly tour of Nigeria as
well.
Dikko also disclosed that the visit will provide opportunity for
selected Club Administrators to have a close study of club management,
match day organization and other activities for the good administration
of clubs in the league through scheduled interactions with LalIga clubs’
top officials.
