Group Chairman of Euromatch, Sacli Semih, says his company is determined to use its three-year partnership with the Nigeria Premier Football League to transform the visibility of Nigerian football and introduce the domestic competition to a much wider global audience.
Semih spoke in Abuja during the unveiling of Euromatch as the new title sponsor of the NPFL, with the landmark agreement worth $7.5 million over three years, or $2.5 million per season. The league will now be known as the Euromatch NPFL from the 2026/27 season.
The Euromatch chairman said Nigeria’s enormous population, young population and abundance of football talent make the country one of the biggest untapped opportunities in African football.
“Nigeria’s potential is massive because of the population,” Semih said.
“You have every material to be an African powerhouse.”
Semih believes the next step is to build a domestic league capable of attracting the attention of football supporters beyond Nigeria, particularly in Europe where many Nigerian players already ply their trade.
“We want to create a league that can be seen across the world,” he said.
The Euromatch executive believes attaching the company’s name to the competition will help increase its international visibility and give the NPFL a stronger commercial identity.
“With the new name, Euromatch NPFL, it will make the league more visible and bigger,” Semih said.
He stressed that Euromatch is not entering the Nigerian market to attach its name to a football competition, but intends to use its own platforms and technology to showcase the league and its players.
“We believe in the NPFL, and we will use our platform to showcase it,” he said.
The partnership comes after the NPFL endured a lengthy period without a major title sponsor following Globacom’s sponsorship ending in 2016. The new agreement therefore represents a significant commercial breakthrough for the league and gives clubs a fresh source of revenue ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Under the agreement, 60 per cent of the annual sponsorship proceeds will go directly to the participating clubs, with NPFL chairman Gbenga Elegbeleye insisting that the money must translate into better wages and welfare for players.
Semih said Euromatch sees the Nigerian partnership as a long-term business opportunity rather than a short-term venture.
“It will be a long-term opportunity because we are a technology company and we will make it happen,” he said.
“We are new to this market, but we expect to be here for a long time in business.”
The Euromatch chairman also revealed that the company intends to assess the progress of the partnership after its first year, with the review expected to help determine how the project can be improved and expanded.
“We will do a review in the next year,” Semih said.
His comments underline the company’s ambition to build a sustained relationship with the NPFL while helping the league improve its standards, visibility and commercial appeal.
Euromatch describes itself as a Warsaw-based international technology group operating in the regulated digital entertainment sector, with licensed operations in Nigeria and Kenya and expansion plans across other markets. Semih’s professional background includes finance, technology and international business management.
The company’s entry into the NPFL therefore comes with an explicit ambition to connect Nigerian domestic football with a wider international audience.
For Semih, the opportunity is clear: Nigeria has the players, the population and the passion for football. What the NPFL now needs is the global platform to show that potential.
And with Euromatch putting its name behind the competition for the next three years, Semih believes the Euromatch NPFL can become a league that the world will finally stop overlooking.
