La Liga: Finidi, Adepoju, Amuneke connecting Spanish first division with Nigerian football

La Liga have been intensified efforts to deepen their ties with Nigerian football. 

Spanish first division La Liga are counting on the help of Super Eagles legends Finidi George, Mutiu Adepoju and Emmanuel Amuneke to strengthen ties with Nigerian football.

Finidi, Adepoju and Amuneke all played in the La Liga during their successful football career.

Since they launched their Nigerian office in 2016 and signed a partnership deal with Legacy Sports who became their official and exclusive agency in the country, La Liga have been intensified efforts to deepen their ties with Nigerian football. 

On Sunday, April 9, they held their official La Liga in Naija’ media event at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja with the Finidi, Adepoju and Amuneke all present.

 

Adepoju who is an official ambassador of La Liga is excited about the prospect of Nigerian fans being closer to the league and the clubs.

“As the LaLiga ambassador, growing the LaLiga brand in Nigeria has always been my primary objective. I am excited about the prospect of Nigerian fans being closer to LaLiga and its clubs, as there is an array of Nigerian talent plying their trade in the Spanish top flight,” the former Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Racing Santander of Spain said.

“I believe that LaLiga’s presence in Nigeria will ultimately further strengthen ties between Nigeria and La Liga”.

At the event, the Nigerian greats each spoke on their experience playing in the La Liga.

 

Adepoju moved to Real Madrid B in 1989 and went on to play for the likes of Real Sociedad and Racing Santander of Spain.

Finidi joined Real Betisof Spain from Ajax in 1996 and went on to play for Real Mallorca in two spells.

Amuneke signed for Barcelona in 1996 and also went on to play for Albacete also in Spain.

 

Currently, eight Nigerian footballers are playing in Spain; Emmanuel Emenike (Las Palmas), Brown Ideye (Malaga), Ramon Azeez (CD Lugo), Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas), Imoh Ezekiel (Las Palmas), Francis Uzoho (RC Deportivo), Isaac Success (Malaga) and Ikechukwu Uche (Gimnastic de Tarragona).

Since their launch in Nigeria, La Liga have partnered with Nigerian football and embarked on some educational projects.

“We (LaLiga) are very proud to be in Nigeria, and to be much closer to the fans,” La Liga Delegate in Nigeria, Javier Del Rio said during the event.

“We believe Nigeria is a significant market for the growth of our brand, and we are highly committed to the development of football in this country, paying close attention to its grassroots football as demonstrated through the 5-day LaLiga-NPFL Coaching Clinic for Nigerian youth coaches earlier this year at the National Stadium in Abuja.

“We plan to host more of these types of activations, and this is just the beginning of greater things to come between LaLiga and Nigeria.”