Kaduna city is set to host the inaugural edition of the National Futsal Super League, aimed at recruiting players to form the foundation of the national team.
Shamsudeen Tijjani Yusuf, the managing director of Galaxy 5s Global Sports, a sports management company partnering with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), announced the initiative to organise and promote the development of Futsal in Nigeria.
He stated, “The league will adopt a regional format, with teams from the six geo-political zones participating over a two-week period in the Crocodile City.
“Our goal is to make Futsal attractive and engaging for the country. The league will also nurture players who will form the basis of the National Futsal team. Alongside the Super League, we will introduce coaching and refereeing programmes to enhance knowledge of the game,” Shamsudeen explained.
“After a 30-year absence of Futsal in Nigeria, we have taken proactive steps to relaunch and repackage the sport through initiatives by Galaxy 5s Global Sports. Nigeria possesses all the resources and qualities to become a Futsal powerhouse, but there is still much work ahead. We chose to collaborate with the NFF, as the member association under FIFA, to underscore the significance of this beautiful game in its own right,” he added.
“Embracing Futsal is the ideal fit for Nigerian football,” Shamsudeen continued. “Countries worldwide that have embraced Futsal have experienced its benefits firsthand. It has become a popular entry point for many young players.
“We’ve witnessed rising standards at the international level, particularly in countries with a rich football culture, such as Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Portugal. Morocco has also proven itself to be a dominant force, being the reigning Futsal African champions and ranked sixth globally and first in Africa.
Futsal is officially endorsed by FIFA, with the first World Cup held in the Netherlands in 1989. Since then, eight more tournaments have taken place, led by Brazil, who have claimed six titles, followed by Spain with two, and Argentina and Portugal with one each. Brazil currently holds the world champion title after a narrow 2-1 victory over Argentina in the tournament hosted by Uzbekistan in 2024.
Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than that of a traditional football pitch.
