Emma Jemegah
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is to partner the Rivers state government for the camping of Nigeria youth teams at the Real Madrid Academy based in Port Harcourt.
NFF’s President, Amaju Pinnick stated this shortly after being taken around the facility by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Real Madrid Academy, Chris Green, in the company of Rivers Commissioner for Sports, Boma Iyaye and Permanent Secretary, Sir Honour Sirawoo
According to Pinnick, the facilities at the academy were top notch and comparable to any of the best football academies across the world
Said he: “This is incredibly impressive. I was here two years ago when the foundation was being laid and when you lay the foundation stone, you become skeptical about the reality, but this is beyond our comprehension.
“I have seen academies in other parts of the world; as the president of NFF, I have been opportune to go round the world, what I have seen here is super, super impressive. The beauty of the academy is that it has world-class facilities, the hostel, the labs, the gym, the dining; the finishing is superb.
“On behalf of NFF, we want to commend the Rivers State Government led by Governor Wike. When he said, two years ago, he was going to complete this in record time, there were some doubting Thomases, but I am here to say we have seen it. We will be coming here in the next few months with very tall football personalities to commission this project.”