Naija United, a Nigerian team has been shortlisted to take part in the World’s first Global, Digital Football League.
As announced in a Press release by One Football, Naija United which is jointly owned by UFC champion Kamaru Usman alongside Grammy-nominated artist and breakout actor Tobe Nwigwe, will compete with other team’s around the world in the maiden edition of the competition.
The league which is powered by two unique artificial intelligence (AI) engines – one in-game and one outside of the field of play, “kicks-off on 23rd June 2023, will see over 250 players from 12 clubs around the world compete in this groundbreaking competition, where all teams and athletes have been created for the online space
The competition, which is scheduled to kicks-off on 23rd June 2023, will see over 250 players from 12 clubs around the world compete in this groundbreaking competition, where all teams and athletes have been created for the online space.
The clubs have a number of celebrity owners from the world of sport and media. Nigerian-born former UFC champion Kamaru Usman has been confirmed as co-owner of the Lagos-based club, alongside Grammy-nominated artist and breakout actor, Tobe Nwigwe.
Other major names involved in 1FF include Jesse Lingard, Naomi Osaka, Patrice Evra, Nick Kyrgios and Chris Smalling.
Just like stadium football 1FF is run in the same way, with teams playing each other home and away in a league format, culminating in play-offs and a final.
However, it is different to real world football in a number of ways, from how matches are consumed to the league’s clubs and players, who have all been specifically designed and created to inspire and engage fans in each market from within their virtual space.
In addition, supporters will have more say in the sport they love than ever before as unique features allow them to own and impact their teams and footballers – determining everything from which brands should sponsor their team, to the athletes’ training regimes and even who they sign for.
According to the report from 1Ff, a season lasts three months, with 11 weeks of regular rounds (two per week), followed by a Finals Week of play-offs and The Final.
In order to attract and engage younger audiences, matches are streamed for free via eight-to-ten-minute highlight packages across social media.
The league is powered by two unique artificial intelligence (AI) engines – one in-game and one outside of the field of play. The former determines thousands of outcomes per match, representing every touch, pass, shot, foul and clearance as the teams battle it out on the pitch. The latter (a narrative engine) establishes real world situations for players outside of match days – positive scenarios like visiting charitable causes to more controversial ones like teammates fighting in training. These give 1FF a whole ecosystem for fans to fully immerse themselves in.
Kamaru Usman spoke about his reasons for investing in One Future Football and Naija United, “You’ve got a sports league which has been created for young people, this is the future of sport and what the young kids out there want.
“So when 1FF came to me with the opportunity to invest in the next big sports league, but also represent my home country, I had to take it. I’m proud of my Nigerian roots, and I want to help young Nigerians feel that same pride and be inspired by this team and its athletes!
“The folks at 1FF and I worked for a long time on everything from the crests to the kits to make sure that the team appealed to not just the world, but truly represented the spirit of Nigeria.”
Naija United is currently Africa’s only representative in 1FF and they will play at the Eleguishi Beach Stadium, Lagos. The team’s slogan ‘Naija Forever’ denotes a new beginning for young people in Nigeria and they represent the future of football in the country.
Built on four main values – Loyalty, Endurance, Joy and Prosperity – ‘Naija’ embodies its nation’s people. The squad consists of homegrown talent from around West Africa and some overseas players with star local winger, Deji Akande, the key man to look out for. Akande, from Ajengunle, has been specifically created in the image of the people of Lagos. He is powerful, technical and tenacious and has the hopes of his team and his country on his young shoulders.
Other teams joining Naija United are FC Angelenos (Los Angeles, USA), Bengaluru Phoenix FC (Bengaluru, India), Bondi FC (Sydney, Australia), Clube de Futebol Brasil Amazônia (Manaus, Brazil), Club Sportivo Palermo (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Inter Nusantara FC (Jakarta, Indonesia), Manhattan FC (New York, USA), Paris St-Denis FC (Saint-Denis, France), Riyadh Stars FC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), South London United FC (London, England) and Tokyo Youth Club (Tokyo, Japan). Each club has their own bespoke crest, kit and player roster as well as ownership from a-list talent who will lend their own expertise and access to their audiences.
The CEO and Co-Founder of One Future Football, Pete Davis said, “The 1FF team has been working incredibly hard to build a tangible league that appeals to supporters all around the world – wherever they are from.
“As football fans we see the trends of young people not being able to connect with the sport owing to factors such as the inaccessibility and rising costs of supporting a stadium football team.
“When you also consider football’s increasing social and environmental impact on the planet we believed something had to be done, otherwise there is a real risk of losing a whole generation of fans. This is why we created One Future Football.”
He also stated that “We’re not trying to replace stadium football – we are confident we’ve built a world where football fans feel a real sense of ownership, that their decisions make a difference and they are actually being heard.
“We’ve created clubs with the DNA of their local regions in mind and designed footballers who fans can identify with and be inspired by. We believe One Future Football will help young fans fall in love with the game. This truly has the potential to be the future of football and we’re excited for the season to kick-off later this month.”
With Naija United kicking-off 1FF’s first ever pre-season fixture vs Manhattan FC on 14th June 2023 – and the maiden round of league matches commencing on Friday 23rd June – fans can be excited knowing that they can savour the beautiful game long after many of the major world soccer competitions have packed-up for the season.
Anyone hungry to watch the matches and discover more about 1FF can do so by visiting 1FF.com and following OneFutureFootball (TikTok, Facebook, Twitch) and 1FFOfficial (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube), plus NaijaUnitedFC (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) on social media.
