A Nigerian entrepreneur, Mrs Nneka Ede, has purchased Portuguese division club side, Lusitano Ginasio Clube Futebol SAD.
The deal, which was concluded in June, is being celebrated because it made her to become the first African woman to own a club in Europe.
She also became the second Nigerian to own a club in Portugal after Mr Kunle Soname purchased Clube Desportivo Feirense in 2015.
This deal was confirmed in a press statement from the club which stated that, “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 in the statement expressed excitement and hopes this deal will foster the great sporting relationship between Nigeria and Portugal.
She said, “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.”
Lusitano Ginasio Clube, Futebol SAD, also commonly known as Lusitano SAD or Lusitano de Evora, is a Portuguese sports club incorporated as a shareholding company since 2016 based in Evora in the Iberian country.
The club competes in the Campeonato de Portugal, the third division of Portuguese club football.
Lusitano SAD is the result of the transformation in 2016 of the senior team of Lusitano Ginasio Clube, a well-known and popular club founded on 11 November 1911.
The club’s name is gotten from Lusitania, the Roman name for the province corresponding to the present territory of Portugal south of the Douro river and to present-day Spanish region of Extremadura.
The third division team in Portugal has Fazer Forte Fraca Gente (Making the Weak Stronger) as their motto.
