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Emerging powerhouse: Infrastructure the key for Nigeria

Nigerian officials believe the West African nation has the potential to rival Papua New Guinea as an emerging rugby league powerhouse after outlining plans for a Centre of Excellence and domestic pathways to develop talent that can play at the highest level.

With the support of African city-builder Rendeavour, Nigeria Rugby League Association has established a virtual home base at Alaro City, which recently hosted a match between the Green Falcons and a women’s All Stars team comprising of players from Ghana, Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, Uganda and Nigeria.
 
In the past 18 months, the newly opened Alaro City International Rugby Pitch has hosted every senior international fixture played on Nigerian soil and plans are underway for a double-header against France in 2027.
 
After beating Ghana 40-0 and 24-8 in World Cup qualifying matches, Nigeria stunned Ireland 10-0 in the opening match of the inaugural IRL Women's Rugby League World Series in Canada last October.
 
The Green Falcons lost the final against Fiji, who claimed the last remaining Women’s World Cup berth, but it hasn’t dampened the ambition of Nigerian officials, who have confirmed a Senior International Match against France in Perpignan on August 1.
 
“What the Green Falcons have achieved in the last eighteen months - undefeated against Ghana, earning Africa and the Middle East’s only seat at the inaugural IRL Women’s World Series and closing out our first home All-Star fixture with authority - is not a coincidence,” Nigeria Rugby League Association Chair Abiodun Olawale-Cole said.
 
“It is the product of a deliberate partnership model; a national federation, a visionary city-builder in Rendeavour and a governing body in the IRL that believes African rugby league deserves world-class infrastructure, not hand-me-downs.”
 
“Papua New Guinea built a rugby league culture on passion and infrastructure working together. Tonga showed what happens when a small nation is taken seriously and given the platform to compete. Nigeria has the population, the talent and, through Rendeavour, the infrastructure.
 
“Our focus now is on building what comes next - a Centre of Excellence at Alaro City, a genuine domestic league pipeline, and an African pathway to every future Rugby League World Cup. We are not asking to be considered. We are showing what is already being built.”
 
The Green Falcons triumphed 30-12 in the All-Star event in Lagos - a fixture co-designed by Alaro City and Nigeria Rugby League to accelerate cross-border development of the sport.
 

All StarsPhoto: Players from four nations, as well as Nigeria, were selected for the African All Stars team to play the Green Falcons.

Since announcing its sponsorship of the Nigerian Rugby League Association and the Nigeria women's team in September 2024, Alaro City has established itself as a strategic base for the sport's growth in West Africa.

Alaro City Managing Director Yomi Ademola said: “Alaro City is a platform, a canvas where every kind of activity can thrive, anchored in the right infrastructure, utilities and facilities. That is why the Alaro City International Rugby Pitch matters - world-class infrastructure is the foundation on which a national sport is built, and it is what our partnership with the Green Falcons is designed to deliver”.

Olawale-Cole said Alaro City was an active partner of Nigerian rugby league - not just a sponsor – and had helped get players from four nations in the All-Star squad through Nigerian immigration, coordinated airport transfers, accommodation, logistics, and a match-day programme that met international standards.

“When I say we are now in serious conversations about a doubleheader series against the French national team, that is a direct consequence of the credibility this partnership has built,” he said.

Nigeria has been identiifed as a candidate to become an accelerator nation by the IRL for investment in a world-class Center of Excellence in a location like Alaro City, inclusive of multiple fields, a signficant grandstand area and gender-equal facilities, for sustained development of the sport in Africa's most populous nation.

Rendeavour founder and CEO Stephen Jennings said: “From Alaro City's partnership with the Green Falcons to Tatu City's support of Kenyan rugby league, Rendeavour's cities are doing what cities should do: giving talent the platform to compete with anyone, anywhere.

“Nigeria's rise in women's rugby league is a powerful demonstration of what's possible when Rendeavour's world-class facilities meet African ambition”.