- Lauds FIFA’s global certification of pitches
Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Group, Ebi Egbe, has urged the newly appointed chairman of National Sports Commission (NSC) Shehu Dikko to pay special attention to infrastructure development in order to lift revamp
The prominent stadium construction expert stated that for Nigeria to compete successfully and secure accolades at the highest levels of international competition, significant investment in sports infrastructure is essential.
“Most times we heap all our sporting woes on the administrators and athletes forgetting what the real problems are,” Egbe explained. “The biggest challenge facing sports in the country is that we lack state of the art facilities.
“You don’t expect an athlete who is not exposed to world class facilities to dazzle for instance at the Olympics no matter how talented the athlete may be.
“We must invest in sports facilities if we are to make any head way,” Egbe noted.
The Bayelsa State-born sports buff noted that it is a shame that Nigeria cannot boast of any other arena that can host Super Eagles matches outside the Uyo Nest of Champions.
“As a nation, we should have at least 10 stadiums where the Eagles can play. This is why I am urging Dikko to focus on infrastructure.
“Nigerians would clap for him if he can bring the Super Eagles back to Abuja and Lagos,” Egbe stated.
In a related development, Egbe has lauded FIFA’s global certification program for natural grass fields, adding the standardization of pitches will enhance improvement of African football particularly.
Speaking against the backdrop of the recent rejection of the renovation being carried out at the Kenya’s stadium by CAF, Egbe noted that the era of low-quality grasses should be eradicated in Africa.
He said: “We applaud FIFA’s global certification program for natural grass fields which will guarantee high-quality pitches for FIFA/CAF games and consequently eradicate inadequate construction practices.
“Of course, some would say ‘all green (grasses) is green’ but not in all cases for professional football because there is FIFA’s standardization,” he added.
