Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has expressed grief at the death of former Stationery Stores and Super Eagles goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, describing his death as another huge loss to the nation’s football ecosystem.
Rufai was reported to have died on Thursday, 3 July, 2025, from a yet to be disclosed ailment.
Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye, NPFL Chairman, while describing Rufai’s demise as saddening, said that he was a good Ambassador of the league and an inspiration to the younger players.
“Rufai was a gentleman who was always willing to support the league whenever he was invited to grace our events such as workshop and fixture draws.
“To the younger players, he was the big brother they all looked up to because like them, he played in the domestic league before seeking greener pastures in Europe.
“He returned home after retirement and has been helping our young ones learn the art of goalkeeping through his annual booth camps”, Elegbeleye recalled.
The League Chairman offered commiserations to the immediate family and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) adding that, “the family and Nigeria has lost a legend”.
Rufai first kept for the national team in a friendly match in December 1981, and would later be part of the squad that won Africa Cup of Nations silver in 1984 and 1988, before Nigeria clinched its second continental glory in Tunisia in 1994. He was the first-choice goalkeeper in the three championships.
Ever colourful, charismatic and disciplined player, the late Rufai in his lifetime, also kept goal for Nigeria in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. His post-retirement years have been spent discovering and mentoring young players.
