The founder of the AfriSportPro Youth League Nigeria has announced that 72 under-19 teams, comprising over 1,000 young players are set to compete in its youth football league across six Nigerian states, beginning August 10, 2025.
The AfriSportPro Youth League is designed to transform grassroots football into a powerful tool for national unity, youth empowerment, and global visibility.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the competition in Abuja on Monday, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AfriSportPro, Chukwuebuka Ugwu, described the initiative as a nation-building platform, a youth engagement ecosystem, and a gateway to international football opportunities.
According to him, the league is powered by a technical partnership with Wyscout, a world-renowned scouting and data analytics platform. Every match will be recorded and analyzed, with player data made accessible to scouts and clubs worldwide.
He said: “The AfriSportPro Youth League was developed with a clear focus: To identify, nurture, and expose grassroots football talent, and to create real pathways to local and global opportunities for
thousands of young players across the country.
“We believe that for Nigerian youth, talent is not the problem. Opportunity is. So we’ve created a league structure that is data-driven, globally visible, and
technically sound.
“Through our partnership with Wyscout – the world’s leading football scouting and
analytics platform every match is not just recorded, but backed by comprehensive
data analytics, made available to clubs and scouts anywhere in the world.
“This means our players aren’t just playing, they’re being seen, measured, and
tracked. We are currently running in six pilot states: Osun, FCT, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, and Imo, With a total of 72 youth teams and over 1,000 players involved. This already makes us arguably the biggest youth football league in the world by team participation.”
The CEO emphasised that teams were selected in collaboration with state football associations to ensure quality and structure.
He added, “The AfriSport Pro Youth League is being positioned as a vehicle for broader societal change. According to organisers, the league incorporates youth education, social reorientation, and non-kinetic crime prevention.
“In partnership with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the league will promote anti-corruption messages and positive values through its nationwide activities.
“AfriSport is also collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy to drive the Visit Nigeria campaign. The aim is to use football to showcase Nigeria’s talent, culture, and tourism to a global audience.
“We want to project a different narrative of Nigeria to the world, one of creativity, energy, and unity.”
Speaking further, he noted that the league will adopt a single round-robin format, with each team playing 11 matches within its state. A total of 66 matches will be played per state over 11 weeks, followed by a one-week national knockout stage, completing a 12-week inaugural season.
He explained that this structure minimizes inter-state travel costs while ensuring fair competition and exposure for players, adding that, “In a country as polarised as Nigeria, football remains one of the few things that unite us. Through this league, we hope to inspire honesty, hard work, dignity, and most importantly, national unity.”
