A Nigerian businesswoman and entreprenuer, Nneka Ede has made history to become the first African woman to own a club in Europe following her acquisition of Portuguese club, Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD.
The club on Thursday confirmed the news.
Lusitano competes in the Campeonato de Portugal, the third division of Portugal’s football pyramid and Mrs Ede took over ownership of the 108-year-old club in June 2020.
In her own words, the new owner of the club revealed that:
“I am excited about this opportunity and I hope that this new chapter will deepen the already great sporting relations between Nigeria and Portugal, continue with the rich history of Lusitano club and provide a pathway for young talent to develop and shine through.”
A statement from the club said:
“After months of negotiations with different entities, an agreement has been reached with Mrs Nneka Ede, a sports enthusiast and entrepreneur from Nigeria, a country filled with people as passionate and fiery about football as us and which incidentally share the same green and white in their flags, towards the transfer of the ownership of the SAD to the latter that will help us in our mission to take Lusitano to the next level.”
Mrs Ede becomes the second Nigerian to purchase a Portuguese club after businessman Kunle Soname bought Clube Desportivo Feirense in 2015.
