President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, on Tuesday, decried the poor standard of stadia in the country for the Super Eagles to play Grade A matches.
Gusau made the observation while speaking with journalists after inspecting ongoing renovation works on Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
He revealed that the NFF was seeking an alternative to Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo for the Super Eagles to play home matches.
The NFF boss, who accompanied the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, on the inspection tour of the facility, commended the governor for investing a huge sum of money to reconstruct the stadium and assured that NFF will provide the technical input to ensure that the facility is top-notch.
He said, “I was quite impressed when I heard that the governor awarded a contract for the renovation of the Aper Aku Stadium. I felt very happy. You know what we are going through in terms of infrastructure in this country.
“For now we can only play grade A matches, that is, Super Eagles matches in Uyo, and this has become a sense of worry and concern to the football body and to Nigerians.
“A country like Nigeria to say that we only have one stadium to play Grade A matches is not something to be happy about.
“When last time I complained to the governor about this, he listened and is doing what he is doing here. I must say I am happy with what I have seen.
“We have put a technical person here who will be working hand in hand with the contractor to see that everything is going on fine so that in the near future we may have an alternative, and that alternative should be Makurdi for our matches.
“I want us to see that in the shortest possible time, we have an alternative to Uyo Stadium. With the commitment of the governor, I know it is going to be possible.”
Speaking on the donation of a trophy for the Governor’s Cup and another cup for the U-15 tournament, the NFF boss said this is part of his campaign promises to revive grassroots football across the country.
“The only way to promote grassroots football is to organise U-15 tournaments and the Governor’s Cup across the country. It is the only way we can discover young talents, which we have in abundance, and we cannot discover them until we put them in a competitive mood. We do not want to see Lobi Stars always going out to look for players; let them source for the players here,” Gusau said.
Meanwhile, Governor Alia appreciated the NFF President for donating a trophy for the Governor’s Cup even as he expressed satisfaction with ongoing work.
He said, “We have already made the pronouncement to reinvent the Governor’s Cup; work has already begun, and I am excited that the NFF President has donated a cup to us as well as the U-15 trophy.
The governor stated that the state was blessed with talented athletes and women in the past and promised to invest more in sports to bring back the glory days.