Chelsea Football Academy in Nigeria and How to Join?

Chelsea FC is one of, if not the most supported team in Nigeria. And I get a lot of inquiries from young footballers and parents who want their kids to join the official Chelsea academy. 

The question, is there really a Chelsea Academy in Nigeria?  I mean an academy officially owned or linked to Chelsea Stanford bridge, not an academy that's just named after the team? 

There are several articles in this regard, some would link you back to Chelsea academy in the UK, while others claimed there will soon be a Chelsea academy, to be located at Victoria Island Lagos, others said it will be at MKO Abiola stadium in Abuja. 

Google will show you this result anytime you search for "Chelsea Academy in Nigeria"

"Premiership giant, Chelsea, is planning to open a multi-million Naira football academy in Lagos. The club’s Nigerian representative, Noah Olivier and President Soccer Africa Sports Management, Dominic Egbukwu, disclosed to Daily Sunsports that the camp would be sited on Victoria Island, Lagos, and would serve as Chelsea’s breeding ground for promising young Nigerian players.

Said he: “Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and South Africa have been picked in Africa by Chelsea FC for its academy camp. My French partner, Olivier, and I have been mandated by Chelsea to take charge of the camp in Nigeria. Initially, they were scared of including Nigeria because of the Boko Haram issue, but we succeeded in convincing them that there was no cause for alarm in Lagos.

“We are expecting a 10-man Chelsea delegation from England any moment from now. They want to come and make inspection before giving us the go-ahead to throw the camp open. “It’s going to be a big camp and it will admit about 500 youths between 15 and 18 years old. After screening which will hold at the National Stadium, Lagos, arrangements will be made for the feeder teams of the teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United and PSG to come for invitational tournaments... "

But since 2012 when that NBF News posted that article till now nothing has happened. 

The truth is, as I write today December 2020, there's no official Chelsea academy in Nigeria. There's official Barcelona academy in Nigeria (FC Bescola) at Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere Lagos, There's official Juventus Academy (J-Academy) in Lekki Lagos. There's official Real Madrid Academy at Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia Port Harcourt Rivers State. There's official Paris Saint Germain (PSG) academy called Carat24 at Gateway Stadium Abeokuta Ogun State. 

There are some boys clubs that go under the name Chelsea FC. Well known among them are the one in Omole - Ojodu area in Lagos and another one in Rumuola area in Port Harcourt, but these clubs are in no way linked to the premier League side.