Sponsor Splashes N50m On AIETO Cup Winners

TAIWO ADELU & MOTUNRAYO OLUKEMI ILESANMI

The winners of the annual Federation Cup, which has been changed to AITO Cup will now win the sum of N25 million courtesy of the new deal Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, struck with its major sponsor, AITEO, Nigeria’s foremost energy solution company.

AIETO on Wednesday acquired the ‘Naming Right’ of the NFF Federation Cup, as an extension/addendum to the company’s sponsorship agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation. It is also part of the rights AITEO has under the original agreement.

Those rights will enable the acquisition of additional commercial assets from the NFF that are available and not encumbered, on a mutually –negotiated basis. To this end, the NFF Federation Cup, the oldest football competition in Nigeria, is henceforth to be known and addressed as “AITEO Cup”

The duration of this aspect of the sponsorship is 5 years, similar to the main agreement (signed on 26^th April 2017) on a Cost Value Arrangement and commencing from the 2017 season.  This arrangement will see AITEO underwriting the costs of the organisation of the competition which encompasses the costs of organising the competition from the Round of 64 to the men and women’s finals, solidarity support to Football Associations of the 36 States and the FCT, expenses and indemnities of match officials, support to participating Clubs, Media, Branding/Activation and Prize Money to winners.

Accordingly, for the 2017 season, the prize monies for the AITEO Cup will be N25million for the winner of the men’s competition and N10million for the winner of the women’s competition. The runner –up for the men’s competition will pocket N10million, with the runner –up for the women’s event going home with N5million. The NFF and AITEO will, in due course, unveil further details of all the benefits of the extended agreement at a press conference.

The Cost Value Arrangement of the transaction is for NFF and AITEO to, annually, decide the nature and value proposition of the AITEO Cup under the framework of the relationship, and AITEO would thus underwrite the cost as the competition’s ‘Naming Right Holder.’

The NFF team at the contract signing inside AITEO Group’s Lagos office said it was “extremely delighted” by the extended agreement, while AITEO chieftains stated “we are happy to do this for Nigeria.

At Wednesday’s simple but colourful ceremony were NFF President Amaju Pinnick, Deputy Managing Director of AITEO, Mr. Francis Peters, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi (NFF 1^st Vice President/Chairman, Organizing Committee), Mr. Shehu Dikko (NFF 2^nd VP/LMC Chairman/Chairman, Marketing, Sponsorship and Television Advisory Committee), Mr. Andrew Onyearu (Group Executive Director/Chief Legal Counsel, AITEO), Barrister A. U. Mustapha (SAN, Vice Chairman of NFF Committee on Ethics and Fairplay), Mr. Victor Okoronkwo (Senior Vice President, Commercial and Gas, AITEO), Ms Aisha Falode (Member, NFF Executive Committee/Chairman, Nigeria Women Football League), Mr. Ademola Olajire (Director, Media and Communication of NFF) and Mr. Ndiana-Abasi Matthew (Senior Manager, Corporate Communications of AITEO).