The Federal Government has approved Mixed Martial Arts (NMMAF) registration as one of the National Sports Federations under the authority and supervision of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development.
Sunday Dare, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, who stated this yesterday in his Abuja office, said the approval which was issued on January 11, 2023, follows a series of interfaces between the federation’s board and the Ministry “having satisfied the condition precedent, pursuant to NMMAF’s acceptance to abide by the Code of Governance of all National Sports.”
He stated further that “the recognition has also saddled the federation with the responsibility to develop, regulate and ensure the safety of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as a thriving Sport in Nigeria in line with global best practices.”
While calling on the sport federation to work towards discovering and developing talents from the grassroots, Dare urged them to take the game to a world class status not only through the development and maintenance of strict rules but also adhering strictly to its standards.
The Mixed Martial Arts Game is reputed to be one of the world’s fastest growing sports with an estimated 449 million followers worldwide.
Prior to this, Nigeria had 39 sports federations with twenty-four of them affiliated to the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC) because they are Olympics federations, while the remaining 15 are ordinary sports federations.
