The National Institute for Sports is finalising plans to enrol its programmes under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to enable coaches facing financial difficulties to access loans for professional training.

The Director-General of the NIS, Philip Shaibu, disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing participants at the ongoing 2026 Confederation of African Football A Licence Course in Abuja.

Shaibu said the initiative would help remove financial barriers that prevent coaches from obtaining professional qualifications at the institute.

He explained that coaches who cannot afford their tuition fees would be able to obtain loans through NELFUND and repay them after securing employment.

The NIS director-general also disclosed that the institute’s research had identified an estimated 40,000 coaches in Nigeria without professional coaching licences.

He welcomed the return of the CAF A Licence programme to Nigeria after a nine-year break, describing it as an important development in efforts to address the shortage of professionally qualified coaches.

Shaibu said the NIS would continue collaborating with the Nigeria Football Federation to expand access to coaching qualifications and reduce the number of unlicensed coaches in the country.

The NFF Acting General Secretary, Emmanuel Ikpeme, commended the initiative and stressed the importance of competent coaches to the development of Nigerian football.

Ikpeme also said the NIS had facilities and equipment capable of supporting modern coaching programmes and praised efforts to strengthen cooperation between the institute and the football federation.

The NIS-NFF partnership is expected to provide more coaches with opportunities to obtain professional qualifications and make the CAF A Licence programme a regular feature in Nigeria.