Sporting Lagos owner Shola Akinlade acquires Danish club Aarhus Fermad

This comes days after the Nigerian software engineer and co-founder of online payment platform Paystack ventured into the European football space, having completed the purchase of Danish second-division club Aarhus Fremad.

The IT billionaire bought a 55% stake in the Danish second division side to become the majority stakeholder and this means Sporting Lagos have become a sister club to Fermad, with both clubs set for a longer partnership.

Aarhus Fremad are at the top of the Danish second division with six points clear and are on course for a topflight promotion this season, while Sporting Lagos are competing in the Nigerian second-division league.

In a statement, the Danish club said: “We have looked at the date correctly, and yes – it is good enough Aarhus Fremad has closed an agreement today, which means a new owner in the club.

“We are very much looking forward to the collaboration and eagerly await what the future brings us.”

According to the club director, Lars Kruse, Akinlade was looking for a club to invest in and Fermad was recommended to him by an associate.

“He has chosen to say that with some of the money he has earned, he wants to start his football team,” Kruse said per Stiften.

“He sees football a bit as we do in Fremad – as a platform for experiences where you can do something for the society around us. He wants a sister club in Europe so that his players down there have an opportunity to come to Europe in time.

“But it won’t be like we’ve seen with other multi-club ownerships, where a lot of players come right away. It will be business as usual in Fremad, where the players who may come up to us at some point are 14-15 years old today.

“The agreement is that we at Fremad will help Sporting (Lagos) build some sporting principles and set up an academy. We focus more on helping to create a good club down there and thereby some players than we focus on developing actual players – it comes second and is a by-product.”