Nigeria's football governing body confirms new partnership with Nike

Nigeria's football governing body says it has entered a new three-year partnership with sports kit designer Nike, with effect from this month.

Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Nigeria's local football governing body, confirmed the new partnership to reporters in the Nigerian capital Abuja, saying Nike would be saddled with the challenge of designing and developing football kits for the country's male and female national football teams until 2018.

Prior to the contract, Adidas was in charge of designing and developing football kits for Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

The contract with Nike took effect from April 1. "This exciting partnership with Nike signifies our commitment toward building and strengthening a successful football future in Nigeria. The game enjoys a huge following across the country and we want to fuel participation and ultimately the success of our future national teams," Pinnick said.

In addition, Nike will also design an assortment of products for Nigerians to show their support for the country's national teams, he said.

Nigeria's male U20 soccer team, known as the Flying Eagles, will be the country's first team to wear the new kits by Nike at the FIFA U20 world cup to be hosted by New Zealand from May 31. Endi