By Harry Awurumibe, Editor-in-Chief, Abuja
Lush green Moshood Abioa National Stadium Abuja mainbowl pitch as at yesterday. Photo by HARRY AWURUMIBE
The much-awaited takeover date of the newly refurbished Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja by the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development has been put off indefinitely Prompt News can authoritatively report today.
This is even as the timeline given by the Sports Minister Chief Sunday Dare recently which suggested that the regrassing work in the mainbowl of the stadium have since been completely and the pitch ready to host international matches again will no longer be realized.
Dare had told State House Correspondents a forthright ago at a Special Ministerial Briefing at Presidential Villa, Abuja, that the contractors handling the renovation work in the mainbowl of the stadium have finished their work and will handover to the ministry in two weeks.
He also said that the senior national football team, Super Eagles and all the other national teams including the women’s teams will soon return to Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja for their international matches.
But Prompt News on-the-spot assessment of the the situation on ground at the stadium indicates that the handover of the pitch to the ministry will be for the foreseeable future as one of the underground water sprinklers recently got burst due to high pressure of water and it has to be fixed before the facility will be handed over to the Sports Minister.
Aside the burst pipe, the mainbowl pitch is now lush green and the Hoticulturist has also completed the rollover of the pitch surface using a motorized-machine to make the field smooth.
However, the recently excavation of the three Training Pitches at Package A of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja has made it impossible for the mainbowl of the stadium to be used for international matches because the stadium as at the time of this report has no training pitches.
Chief Sunday Dare (in suits) performing the official handover to Dangote Group by the Sports Ministry under the Minister’s Adopt-A-Pitch Programme in August 2020.
According to Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) recommendations, no stadium will get the nod of both football governing bodies without the mainbowl pitch and complimentary training pitches of equal standard with the mainbowl pitch.
A visiting team is allowed at least one training session on the same pitch where the main game will hold on the approved match-day, a situation which will make it impossible for the mainbowl to host international matches again without the three training pitches which are now unusable.
Prompt News investigations revealed that the regrassing of the three training pitches at Package A of the stadium will last for a month while it will take few months more for the newly planted grasses to mature before they will be used for football game.
Efforts to speak to the Sports Minister on the wisdom of carrying out excavation work simultaneously on the three training pitches at Package A of the stadium instead of doing it one after the other did not materialise as he could not be reached as at the time of this report.
The excavated Training Pitch 1 of MKO Abiola National Stadium Abuja as at yesterday. Photo by HARRY AWURUMIBE
The Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja renovation work which was handed over to Dangote Group by the Sports Ministry under the Minister’s Adopt-A-Pitch Programme in August 2020 was supposed to have been handed over to the ministry by the contractor Aron Nigeria Limited since March 2021.
The company handled the replacement of the two Electronic Scoreboards and regrassing of the mainbowl pitch of the stadium just as the Dangote Group had earmarked One Million Dollars for the renovation of some parts of the 60,000 capacity stadium.
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