Settings

Site Settings

about header

About subheader

About content

TBD Management Ltd is a forward-thinking sports consultancy set up by Ms Eby Emenike (The Black Doll). Inspired by her years of event managing and consulting she decided to focus her skills on the world of football. After receiving her player agent licence from the English Football Association in 2010, she founded TBD Management.

Eby was born in Leeds, United Kingdom, but moved to Eastern Nigeria with her family at the tender age of six. She spent approximately eight years in Nigeria before returning to the UK to complete her high school education. Her creative imagination greatly influenced her decision to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Leeds. This led to a career path in plant management and engineering.

Whilst at University, Eby teamed up with a couple of schoolmates and set up Positive Image (PI) Entertainments – a small event management company which organised event nights and comedy shows for students. After university, Eby focussed on her professional career.

In 2007, Eby and a friend set up another company, Pure Persona PR to help promote International African footballers and assist them in giving something back to their communities. Pure Persona was involved in promoting the images of and setting up charities for Ghanaian internationals, Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien in their home countries; and organising community football matches.

In 2009, Eby had developed a keen interest in helping young African players and clubs. In TBD Sports’ first year of operation, Eby directly challenged many of the misconceptions of African football in and out of the continent. Many players and clubs were not knowledgeable of their rights, represented by unlicensed agents and other personal challenges that stemmed from cultural and even depressed financial situations. Some young players and clubs have since reaped the benefits of free advice, proper representation and also an ‘international standard’ of quality healthcare locally.

More recently, Eby has focussed on the protection of young African football players who are being misled into paying fake agents large sums of money in exchange for fake trials in top European clubs. She is currently working on an awareness campaign dubbed ‘The STAR Project’ to help spread the word and warn unsuspecting players and their parents of the dangers.

Having seen the financial state of some of the clubs in Africa, Eby developed a passion for bringing money and new ideas into African Football. She demonstrated this by brokering a partnership between Sunderland AFC, England and Asante Kotoko, Ghana in 2011 which encouraged a ‘technology’ transfer.

Eby believes that Africa produces a lot of football talent but because a vast number of the clubs are not aware of their financial entitlements, players leave Africa to Europe with very little to show for it in their home countries and no real incentive for African clubs to keep nurturing more young players.

With this in mind, Eby has been working with African clubs and Football Associations, educating and re-educating them on the FIFA ‘training’ and ‘solidarity’ compensation; and the importance of reinvesting the money back into youth development. She has assisted a number of clubs, both in Africa and Europe, in claiming training rewards for the training of their players.

In 2017 Eby attained a first-class honours degree in Laws, and hopes to use that to further assist with improving African football.

<span style="font-weight: 400">In 2021 Eby co-founded Naemo Sports, a sports technology company which birthed Afriskaut, a revolutionary scouting platform dedicated to showcasing the exceptional talent of African footballers.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Eby continues to educate and mentor young African footballers through their careers and is currently the patroness of the University of Nigeria Nsukka Sports Society.</span>

About Image