Nigeria Sports In 2025: Events That Will Shape The Year
Azeez Adekunle
It’s the new year, and every sports lover can only hope for nothing less than progress for Nigerian sports. 2024 came with its highs and lows, and now, in 2025, we anticipate with cautious optimism what the year will bring. The Super Eagles will hope to better their runner-up position in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), while Nigerian athletes will look to bounce back from their lackluster performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Besides these, there is also the need to build on the achievement of Ademola Lookman, the second Nigerian player to win the African Player of the Year in two years.
To this end, the newly formed Nigeria Sports Commission (NSC), following the scrapping of the Ministry of Sports, has embarked on the Reset, Refocus, and Relaunch initiative under the Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria’s Sports Economy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The president, making his intentions clear to place sports development at the forefront of his policies this year, has proposed a budget of 78 billion naira for the sports sector— a significant increase from previous years’ allocations.
This budget allocation will help the NSC achieve its goal of repositioning Nigeria’s sports ecosystem from a competition-driven model to a developmental one with added value. The fund will enable the construction of a world-class anti-doping laboratory, full rehabilitation of the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja with the completion of its 200-athlete room abandoned for over 15 years, the construction and equipping of a high-performance center in Abuja, and the development of other federal government stadiums and mini-sport complexes in various communities across the country.
Apart from the proposed allocation in the budget, there is also a separate budget set aside for preparations for tournaments like the World Cup, AFCON qualifiers, the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the African Games, World and Continental Championships, the Paralympics, other Para-sport competitions, NUGA Games and School Sports e.t.c. Additionally, there is a dedicated budget line for national team participation in international competitions. When Nigeria qualifies for an international competition, funds will be drawn from this reserved budget for team participation, unlike in the past when funds were sourced after team qualification.
While the Reset, Refocus, and Relaunch initiative is not a short-term project, its implementation starting this year will go a long way in shaping Nigeria’s sporting events. Its potential, as captured by the words of Shehu Dikko, NSC Chairman, brings much hope and highlights the awareness that the sports sector is on a solid footing. According to him, “The Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria’s Sports Economy (RHINSE) is not just about investing in infrastructure but about redefining sports as a national asset, entitled to all the requisite special support, concessions, and legal frameworks to drive growth. It is a tool for unity, cultural promotion, and economic growth, with the potential to uplift millions of our youth and communities across the country.” In light of the above, it is crucial to take a look at the sporting events that will shape 2025.
African Nations Championship (CHAN)
The home-based Super Eagles (Eagles B) will compete for honors against other African teams like Morocco, Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, Congo, Sudan, etc., in the African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2025, which will be held in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. The team, after beating the Black Galaxies of Ghana 3-1 in their second-leg clash at Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, and drawing 0-0 in the first leg in Ghana, will hope to surpass their runner-up finish in the competition in Morocco in 2018. A podium finish in the 8th edition of the competition would erase the heartbreak of not qualifying for the 2020 and 2022 editions, making 2025 the year Nigeria claims its first gold medal in the CHAN competition.
The Eagles B team, in preparation for the tournament, which will be held from February 1 to 28, has already started a close camping exercise at the Remo Stars Sports Institute in Ikenne, Remo, from Monday, January 6. A total of 26 players have been called up for the camp. With good tidings associated with the beginning of the new year and support from stakeholders like the NSC, the competition promises to be a good outing for the team and the country. While not being overly pessimistic about Team Nigeria’s chances, a knockout from the competition or a gold medal win will shape the national mood come December when evaluating Nigeria’s sports achievements for the year.
FIBA Women’s Afrobasket 2025
D’Tigress, the best female basketball team in Africa, will hope to build on their exceptional performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they became the first African basketball team to reach the quarterfinals of an international competition in either the male or female categories. They defeated teams in the top five rankings of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), including Australia (75-62) and Canada (79-70), before being defeated by the USA, the best female basketball team in the world, by 88-74.
This outing put them in the history books, and under coach Rena Wakama, they will want to solidify their dominance over their African counterparts by claiming their fourth consecutive FIBA Women’s Afrobasket trophy in Ivory Coast. Nigeria qualified for the 2025 edition outrightly by reaching the semifinals of the 2023 edition. The tournament, set to run from July 25 to August 3, promises to be thrilling, as other African teams will aim to dethrone D’Tigress as the giants of African basketball.
Meanwhile, in the male category of the FIBA Men’s Afrobasket, which will be held in Angola, the D’Tigers face an uphill battle as they must take maximum points from each of their remaining qualifying matches starting in February to qualify for the competition. The tournament will run from August 12-24 and is another event that will shape the year for Nigeria. Will there be disappointment, or will history be made?
World Athletics Championship 2025
Nigeria’s athletes’ performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics was a bitter pill to swallow for many sports enthusiasts. Despite millions of dollars spent on the team, it is sad to note that the team came home without any medals. While the lackluster performance can be attributed to underwhelming athletes’ performances, the management’s lackadaisical attitude toward the team also played a role. As the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo, Japan, is set to begin from September 13 to 25, many hope that Nigerian stars like Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, and Favour Ofili will bounce back from their Olympic disappointment and put Nigeria’s name back on the global map, as they have always done.
Tobi Amusan, the reigning world record holder in the 100m hurdles, has enlisted the services of Usain Bolt’s trainer, Glen Mills, who helped the Jamaican sprinter win multiple titles in the 100m and 200m, among other achievements. Similarly, Ese Brume, the African women’s long jump record holder, has requested a training grant from NSC Director-General Bukola Olopade to purchase a small car that would aid her training for the September championship. If Nigeria can overcome its challenges in athletics, this event could have a positive impact on the country’s sports performance for the year.
World Cup Qualifier Games
Nigeria’s World Cup qualification is hanging by a thread. The team’s disappointing performance in the qualifiers in 2024 will hope to be forgotten as they begin the remaining qualifying matches against Rwanda on March 17, 2025. To participate in the 2026 World Cup, it is crucial to win all six remaining qualifying games. NFF President Ibrahim Gusau shares this view and reiterated the Nigerian Football Federation’s commitment to ensuring the Super Eagles make it to the Mundial next year. He said, “Our commitment is to see how we can cobble back that Super Eagles squad that did the nation proud at the AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, coming within 23 minutes of lifting the trophy. If we can find a way to do that, we can be sure that the target of winning the six remaining matches in the qualifiers to gain automatic qualification to the World Cup is achievable.”
The Super Eagles are currently in 5th position in Group G with 3 points, while Rwanda and South Africa are in 1st and 2nd position, respectively, with 7 points each and a goal difference separating the two sides. While this may not seem like a Herculean task for the Eagles, the challenge is that only one nation can emerge from the group to join the other group winners in representing Africa at the 2026 World Cup. This means Nigeria must be at their best to secure the top spot in Group G.
Failing to qualify for the Mundial will be considered a disaster, especially as Nigeria last participated in the World Cup in 2018, having missed out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. With Eric Chelle, a former Malian coach, now the Super Eagles’ coach, it remains to be seen how the qualifiers will unfold. As Nigerian football fans eagerly await the outcome of the remaining six qualifying matches, Ibrahim Gusau believes that securing a World Cup ticket will set a positive tone for the team’s performance at AFCON later in the year. “Getting that FIFA World Cup ticket will set the momentum for a sterling outing at the AFCON in Morocco later in the year.”
Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2025)
The Super Falcons, Nigeria’s 9-time WAFCON winners and the best female team on the African continent according to the FIFA ranking, will aim to claim their 10th Women’s African Cup of Nations title when the competition kicks off on July 5-26 in Morocco. The team’s last outing in the competition in 2022 ended in a 4th-place finish after Zambia won the third-place match 1-0. The Super Falcons’ performance at the Women’s Olympics Football Tournament, though disappointing as they were eliminated from the group stage by Canada, Brazil, and Australia (considered heavyweights in women’s football), will hope to overcome these setbacks by invoking the spirit of their 2023 World Cup performance, which saw them reach the Round of 16. They hope to go one step further and clinch the ultimate prize in Morocco. A gold medal for the Super Falcons in this competition will further cement their reputation as the best female team in Africa and bring joy to the nation in 2025.
African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025
The Super Eagles will compete with 23 other African teams in the men’s African Cup of Nations, set to take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 16, 2026. After a strong performance in the qualifiers and securing their AFCON ticket, the team will call on players like Ademola Lookman (current CAF Player of the Year), Victor Osimhen, and Victor Boniface to provide lethal attacking prowess for the squad. Other African teams will be eager to prove themselves against Nigeria to prevent them from surpassing their second-place finish at AFCON 2024 and claim a fourth African Nations title since 2013. Is a fourth consecutive gold achievable for the Eagles? The answer will be known when the competition begins in late December.
As the new year begins and anticipation builds for these sporting events, these tournaments promise to be thrilling and will likely shape Nigeria’s sports landscape positively or negatively by the end of 2025.
photo credit: concisenews.global
