Nigerian entrepreneur, Nneka Ede taken over Portuguese Serie D club-side Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD, thus becoming the first African woman to own a club in Europe.
A club statement stated that an agreement was reached between Ede and the club after months of negotiations with different entries.
“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,” the statement read.
The takeover was completed in June 2020 making Nneka Ede the new owner of the club founded in 1911 and currently playing in the Portuguese 3rd division.
“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,” Ede said after the take over was completed.
Lusitano SAD is a Portuguese sports club incorporated as a shareholding company since 2016 based in Évora and competing in the Campeonato de Portugal, third tier of Portuguese football.
Lusitano SAD is the result of the transformation in 2016 of the senior team of Lusitano Ginásio Clube, a well-known and popular club founded on 11 November 1911.
Lusitano has a long and rich history spanning over a century, the pinnacle of which was achieved in the 1950’s when the club competed for 14 consecutive seasons in the Primeira Divisão (First Division or tier 1), still holding a position amongst the 30 clubs in Portugal with more participations at tier 1 level in the country.