By Dorcas Francis Koji
The professional arm of the Nigeria Boxing Federation, NBF-Pro, has launched a 30-day free legal service aimed at helping professional boxers across the country resolve contractual disputes and protect their careers.
The initiative, introduced in partnership with Emoni Sports Law as NBF-Pro’s official legal advisory chamber, is designed particularly to assist boxers caught in exploitative, conflicting or multiple agreements with international promoters and managers.
According to NBF-Pro, the scheme will provide professional boxers with free access to legal education and contract reviews, enabling them to better understand potentially harmful agreements and identify clauses that could restrict their careers.
As part of the initiative, participating boxers will receive a comprehensive contract audit covering existing agreements with promoters and managers. The review will focus on identifying conflicting contracts, unlawful clauses and cases involving concurrent signings.
The legal service will also provide guidance on how boxers can lawfully terminate, renegotiate or harmonise multiple agreements, while ensuring that future contracts comply with the standards of the Nigeria Boxing Federation, the National Sports Commission and World Boxing.
NBF-Pro said interested boxers must submit copies of all their current local and international contracts through the federation’s official channels within the 30-day period to access the service at no cost.
NBF-Pro chairman, Azania Omo-Agege, described the initiative as a significant step towards protecting Nigerian boxers from contractual arrangements that could undermine their professional development.
Omo-Agege also commended the leadership of the Nigeria Boxing Federation for its ongoing reforms, saying the changes were addressing several areas of the sport.
He said the new legal framework would provide boxers with the knowledge and professional support needed to deal with contractual challenges and prevent such issues from negatively affecting their careers.
The initiative is expected to give professional boxers greater awareness of their legal rights while promoting more transparent and properly structured relationships between athletes, promoters and managers.
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