Nigerian Set To Take Over Sheffield United

Who is Dozy Mmobuosi? The Nigerian set to take over Sheffield United Billionaire is an impressive figure with a ‘magical quality’, says fashion designer Ozwald Boateng Mmobuosi’s pursuit of Sheffield United is said to have triggered frenzied excitement in his home country writes Matt Lawton, Chief Sports Correspondent, The Times
He arrived at Reading’s ground on Tuesday night in a Rolls Royce, flanked by a personal security detail, and when he hosts business meetings, or launches a charitable foundation, Dozy Mmobuosi tends to favour The Dorchester on London’s Park Lane.
But right now the Nigerian entrepreneur, with a personal fortune reportedly north of £5 billion, is the subject of a test to determine whether he qualifies to become the new owner of Sheffield United.
Mmobuosi has some influential friends, and this week Ozwald Boateng spoke to The Times to explain why he thinks English football should embrace the opportunity to have a black owner at a club that could soon be rejoining the elite of the Premier League.
“Culturally, for this country, to have a black, African owner of a major football club would be phenomenal,” the London-based fashion designer, 56, said.
“But we also have to think about what this could mean for the future of the country, economically. I was a remainer, but we have left Europe. So we need to look more to the Commonwealth, and what Dozy represents is a chance to embrace an entrepreneur from a major Commonwealth country.
“I’ve met Dozy a few times and he has an almost magical quality. I’ve dressed some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world and he is very impressive. He has built an agricultural business that supports some ten million farmers, and created a FinTech from it too. He will invest in the community in Sheffield in the same way he has in Nigeria.”
When the Premier League agreed a new three-year, £500 million television rights deal for sub-Saharan Africa – it runs to the end of the 2024-25 season – their statement referenced a desire to grow their fan base in the region.
A connection of this nature, with a country boasting the sixth largest population in the world (213 million people), could therefore be of considerable value.
Nigerians are passionate about their football. The players who conquered Argentina to win gold at the 1996 Olympic Games, Nwankwo Kanu and Jay Jay Okocha among them, are national heroes. The success that Kanu enjoyed with Arsenal, and John Obi Mikel with Chelsea, certainly elevated the interest in English football’s top flight.
But the first report of Mmobuosi’s pursuit of Sheffield United is said to have sparked frenzied excitement across the country. Mmobuosi, 43, was contacted directly by Agbogidi Chukwumalieze, the King, or Obi, of Onicha-Ugbo, a town in Delta State, Nigeria.
When Mmobuosi travelled to Sheffield, he was greeted by the former minister for sport and son of the south Yorkshire city, Richard Caborn. He went to a pub near Bramall Lane, The Roebuck, to try their Guinness; Nigeria has been brewing Guinness since 1962.
But the principal reason for being there was to meet with officials from the club in a bid to negotiate a debt-free purchase that sources say is actually nearer to £115 million than the reported £90 million.
Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the club’s Saudi owner, is said to have run into financial difficulties that are forcing him to sell — although dispensing of the club shortly before a potential £140 million windfall of Premier League television revenue has raised eyebrows in the Championship, with Sheffield United seven points clear in the second automatic promotion place with 11 games remaining. Perhaps someone considers a second Saudi owner in the top flight slightly unpalatable.
But Mmobuosi is said to have enjoyed positive negotiations with Prince Abdullah and appears confident that he will become the club’s new owner. That he has already given the club the best part of £10 million, to settle certain bills and keep the place afloat while the manager, Paul Hecking bottom, and his players continue to pursue promotion is a measure of that confidence.
As yet, however, it is not a done deal, and Mmobuosi has been the subject of certain reports that are sure to have caught the attention of those at the English Football League charged with determining if he passes its Owners’ and Directors’ Test. Last month, the EFL released a statement saying it was still awaiting answers to further queries.
There was a non-existent airline. Tingo Airlines, as revealed by The Athletic, was incorporated in August 2019, with £1 billion declared share capital, all of which was owned by Mmobuosi. It had only filed accounts for a dormant company, along with confirmation statements, and received notice to be compulsorily struck off on January 31, 2023.
Sources say he has explained to the EFL, via Sheffield United, that it was a venture due to launch when the Covid pandemic struck and therefore had to be abandoned. Indeed, Mmobuosi said as much in a rare interview with CNN.
Two County Court judgments that were against Mmobuosi’s name, for unpaid rent totalling less than £100,000 on properties in Hertfordshire, have also been dealt with, while his supporters say issues he has had with the authorities in Nigeria were politically motivated and came to nothing.
Those same supporters point to what he has achieved with his main businesses, TingoInc, and Tingo International Holdings Inc, and the creation of a mobile phone and financial services network for rural communities across Nigeria. There is a Tingo Visa card, which only came into being, explain his allies, after the financial services corporation had spent 18 months on due diligence.
There is also now Tingo Foods, a business designed to process food in Nigeria rather than rely simply on exporting raw products such as cocoa, tea and coffee.
Since speaking to CNN, Mmobuosi has chosen to step back from the media spotlight while the EFL does its own due diligence. But his allies point to his work in establishing mobile screening centres for prostate cancer in Nigeria, prompted by his own father’s battle with the disease. A private hospital is also said to be under construction.
There have been reports of a plummeting share price but his businesses are being audited by a leading accountancy firm and evidence of his personal wealth has been supplied to officials at Bramall Lane via a prominent City law firm.
“It is my money, and I have actually made a deposit,” Mmobuosi told CNN. “For me it’s long term . . . I believe we’ll get to the Premiership and will remain there.”
As Mmobuosi said, the decision now rests “in the capable hands of the EFL”. But from London to Lagos, there are Nigerians and other African football fans simply willing this to happen.