A viral claim by Dino Melaye that FIFA provided $1.2 million each to Nigeria and Kenya for stadium construction has been debunked. The assertion compared a small FIFA-funded project in Nigeria to Kenya's Talanta Stadium, which is fully government-financed. Fact-checkers confirmed FIFA did not fund the Kenyan project.
On October 26, Dino Melaye, a former Nigerian gubernatorial candidate, posted on X claiming FIFA gave Nigeria and Kenya $1.2 million each to build stadiums for football development. He shared a photo of the FIFA-funded mini-stadium in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi state, alongside Kenya's Talanta Sports Stadium, accusing Nigerian administrators of mismanaging the funds. 'Di goal be sey make dem both build stadium for football development. Our moral sense don finish, we dey celebrate agbero, we dey honour tiff,' Melaye wrote in the tweet, which garnered 621,000 impressions, 8,000 likes, and 2,500 retweets.
A variant by X user @CitizenObs claimed the countries received $10 million each, using the same photo. Recent social media has accused the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of mismanaging FIFA funds for community football and stadium projects. The Birnin-Kebbi mini-stadium, funded through FIFA's Forward Programme, began construction in 2020 and was inaugurated in 2023 at a cost of $1.19 million. It is one of two such projects in Nigeria, the other being a mini-stadium in Ugborodo, Delta state.
In contrast, Talanta Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, is a multi-sports arena under construction to host matches for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The stadium will have a capacity of at least 60,000 spectators and is fully funded by the Kenyan government, with the contract awarded to China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). According to The Times Kenya, the project will cost taxpayers Sh44.7 billion, approximately $344.5 million, as presented by Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya to the legislative committee on sports and culture in April.
Fact-checkers concluded the claim is incorrect: the stadiums were not built with the same amount of funding, and FIFA did not contribute to Talanta's construction.
