No fewer than 120 football clubs from across Nigeria are set to compete in the 2026 AfriSportPro Youth League, a competition aimed at strengthening grassroots football development and creating professional pathways for young talents.

Beyond the competition, the organisers noted that the league would provide opportunities for professional scouting, club recruitment, sponsorship activation, community engagement, coach development and international football partnerships.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AfriSportPro, Chukwuebuka Ugwu, said that the league, which will kick off on July 23 with the Kano conference at the Sani Abacha Stadium, will feature more than 3,000 U-19 players drawn from 10 states across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

He described the competition as one of Africa’s largest structured youth football leagues, designed to identify and nurture young talents through a professionally organised and technology-driven platform.

Ugwu said: “I’m happy to be kicking off this 2026 season after our successful inaugural season in 2025. It’s really a great feeling to get to this point despite every challenge along the way. We aim to consistently organise this league every year while adding more states as we go.

“Our vision is to build not just Nigeria’s but Africa’s leading structured youth football ecosystem. Every young player deserves a pathway to opportunity, and AfriSportPro exists to ensure talent is discovered through structure, performance data and meaningful exposure rather than chance.”

According to him, the league will leverage technology to improve talent identification through match recording, player performance analysis, digital player profiles and digital scouting systems that will provide credible performance data for clubs and scouts.

Ugwu explained that the Kano Conference would officially launch the 2026 season, while conferences in the remaining participating states would commence in phases, with dates to be announced subsequently.

He said that the season would culminate in the AfriSportPro National Championship, where the best teams from the various conferences would compete for national honours.

Ugwu said that the tournament is expected to attract grassroots football clubs, football academies, FIFA-licensed agents, professional clubs, scouts, corporate sponsors, football enthusiasts and government stakeholders committed to youth sports development.

Gumel preaches physical fitness as NOC celebrates Olympic Day
Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) President, Habu Ahmed Gumel, has charged Nigerians to see physical fitness as a way of life.

Gumel gave the charge at the weekend during the Olympic Day Celebration held at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The NOC held the Olympic Day Celebration in collaboration with the Sports For All Commission.

Represented by the Chairman, Sports For All Commission, Dr Abdul Ibrahim, Gumel reminded Nigerians of the importance of healthy living, saying that bodily exercise is a catalyst for healthy living; hence people should always engage in physical exercise.

At the Olympic Day celebration, participants were engaged in aerobics, jogging and other side attractions like Tug-of-War, WBC Muatai Kickboxing, Roller Skating, Karate and Dancing.

Reports from across the states indicate that there was a massive turnout of participants in this year’s programme when compared with that of 2025.

Certificates were distributed to all the participants at the end of the exercise.