International Football
Nigeria, Morocco Football Authorities Sign Strategic Pact
Football authorities of both Nigeria and Kingdom of Morocco have consummated a multi-faceted strategic agreement in general football development.
According to a media release from the Communication department of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, the agreement involved the duo of NFF and the League Management Company which organizes the elite division of the Nigerian football league.
The release stated that on Thursday, NFF President Amaju Pinnick and NFF 2nd Vice President/LMC Chairman Shehu Dikko put pen to paper on a memorandum of understanding with their Moroccan counterparts, the result of detailed discussions, deliberations and considerations over time.
The FA Presidents signed their own side in the offices of the Federation Royale Marocaine de Football in Rabat, while Dikko and Chairman of the Ligue Nationale de Football Professionnel (LNFP), Said Naciri, signed at the LNFP office, and watched by the two FA bosses.
Both Pinnick and 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,” Dikko, who is also Chairman of NFF Marketing, Sponsorship and Television Advisory Committee and NFF Strategic Committee, explained to thenff.com.
“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 structure in managing the domestic media rights of both 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 interests 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 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 et cetera. It is all about fostering mutually beneficial relationships.”
On Friday, Pinnick and Dikko were at the offices of a Moroccan multinational company with extensive business interests in Nigeria, where an MOU was 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.
Sports Village Square recalls that this is the second time Nigeria and Morocco will enter into a football agreement. The first was in 1984 during the quarterfinal duel of the then IICC Shooting Stars and Magreb Fez of Morocco in the then African Cup of Champions Clubs.
It was signed in the Ibadan house of Late Chief Lekan Salami. The agreement which was to see the two clubs exchange visits annually, could not be implemented as the Nigerian club ran into bad fortunes.
The latest 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 gas regional 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.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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