Shola Akinlade, co-founder and CEO of Paystack, has acquired a 55% ownership position in Danish second-division team Aarhus Fremad.
Aarhus Fremad will join the Nigeria National League’s Sporting Lagos FC, a football team with a base in Lagos that Akinlade formed in 2022, as a sister club as a result of the agreement announced on Tuesday.
Sporting said in a statement that the agreement will boost the country’s efforts to grow youth football by giving its best teams opportunity to play in Europe.
Akinlade expressed his excitement and honor at starting this new chapter with Aarhus Fremad and advancing their shared goal to empowering and engaging local communities in their statement regarding the purchase of the 76-year-old club.
“By strengthening the relationship between Sporting Lagos and Aarhus Fremad, we aim to create an environment that fosters education, growth, and opportunity for our players and the community at large. I have the utmost confidence in Lars Kruse’s continued leadership as CEO, and together, we will strive to maintain the values and long-term goals that have made these clubs such a cherished part of their respective communities.”
Commenting on the investment, Lars Kruse, said, “It has been an exciting process, from when I first heard that they had spotted us in Fremad all the way from Nigeria to where we are standing now.
“It is fantastic that there are people with the right mindset who see football as a catalyst for many other things – and in terms of values, Sporting Lagos is a Nigerian Aarhus Fremad. In practical terms, the agreement means that we can have a much larger perspective in Fremad, as well as an international dimension to work with.”
Arhus Fremad is currently in first place in the second division and could be promoted to the second-best league in the nation.
Lars Kruse, the club’s CEO and a former principal stock owner, has been covering the deficit despite this.
The club reported a deficit of two million kroner during the previous two years in its most recent financial report.
In an interview with Århus Stiftstidende, a Danish newspaper, on the investment, Lars Kruse, stated, “I’ve been completely honest that I needed some help. I didn’t want to throw it all under the bus, and I’ve always thought that someone must come along when we’ve been as good as we’ve been.”
