Nigerian sports-tech company 5ivezz is developing a digital ecosystem aimed at transforming the way grassroots football is organised, managed and connected to opportunities across Africa.

Founded by technology entrepreneur Patrick OSEK, 5ivezz seeks to address longstanding challenges within grassroots football, including fragmented player records, informal tournament administration, limited talent visibility, inefficient registration processes and weak connections between football communities, brands and sponsors.

The platform is designed to connect players, teams, tournament organisers, scouts, academies, brands and sponsors within a unified digital football ecosystem.

For years, grassroots football activities have relied heavily on WhatsApp groups, spreadsheets, paper registration, social media and word-of-mouth networks. While these channels have supported community-level competitions, they offer limited infrastructure for managing the growing football economy.

5ivezz is positioning its platform as a digital layer to bridge that gap.

Through the platform, players can establish digital football identities, teams can manage participation, while tournament organisers can manage competitions, fixtures, results and football data in a more structured manner.

Beyond tournament management, the company is developing capabilities around digital player and team identities, live scores, fan engagement, payments, talent discovery, performance data, brand activations and sponsorship.

The company believes this can help turn grassroots football into a more organised and measurable digital economy, while creating new pathways for players and teams to gain visibility and access opportunities.

Team driving the vision

5ivezz is being built by a multidisciplinary team with experience spanning technology, football operations, partnerships, marketing and brand strategy.

OSEK, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, is a technology entrepreneur who previously founded Naija5Fest, a nationwide five-a-side football initiative created to provide amateur footballers with opportunities for participation, visibility and talent discovery.

He works alongside Damilola AKINTOKE, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer; Oluwatobi Mohammed, Chief Technology Officer; Patricia OKOSODO, Chief Marketing Officer; and Hakeem ODEYEMI, Brand Strategist.

The team brings together expertise across technology, grassroots football, operations, partnerships and brand development.

The idea behind 5ivezz emerged from OSEK’s experience with grassroots football through Naija5Fest, where he encountered both the scale of participation and the challenges involved in organising competitions, managing player information and creating sustainable pathways for talent visibility.

That experience highlighted the need for a system capable of connecting the players, activities, data and opportunities within grassroots football.

According to OSEK, the future of grassroots football should not depend on personal connections, informal networks or paper-based records, but should give every player, team and tournament a digital identity and pathway to opportunity.

Connecting football with commerce

Beyond sporting development, 5ivezz is also exploring the commercial potential of grassroots football.

Grassroots tournaments bring together players, fans, families and young consumers, creating opportunities for brands to engage communities directly through authentic football experiences.

The company is therefore developing a model that connects grassroots football with brand activations, sponsorship, consumer engagement and digital commerce.

5ivezz believes this approach can create value across the ecosystem — giving players greater visibility, providing organisers with better management tools, helping scouts identify emerging talent and creating meaningful community engagement opportunities for brands.

Expanding from Nigeria to Africa

Nigeria serves as the starting point for the company’s broader African ambition.

With its large youth population, deep football culture and expanding digital economy, the country provides a strong foundation for a technology platform focused on grassroots football.

5ivezz plans to expand its digital football infrastructure into other African markets, with the goal of creating a connected network where players, teams, competitions, scouts and commercial partners can interact beyond geographical boundaries.

The company’s long-term ambition goes beyond organising football tournaments. It is seeking to build digital infrastructure capable of supporting participation, identity, data, competition, payments, talent discovery and commercial opportunities across grassroots football.

As Africa’s football ecosystem continues to evolve, 5ivezz is positioning itself at the intersection of sport, technology, community and commerce, with a vision to build the digital infrastructure for the next generation of African football.