Governing Bodies
Aftermath of National Stadium’s flood mast collapse, sports minister harps on maintenance culture
The Youth and Sports Development Ministry has reacted to Monday’s collapse of one of the four floodlight masts at the National Stadium, in Lagos.
According to a statement from the minister’s spokesman, Kola Daniel, only about a week ago, the outgoing minister of sports, Chief Sunday Dare spoke about the efforts to refurbish the abandoned sports edifice.
Estimate to put the stadium which has been abandoned for close to 20 years was put at N21 billion.
“But rather than reason alongside the honourable minister, many critics jumped at it, by questioning both the veracity of the figure and timing of the request, considering the fact that the tenure of Chief Dare as Minister of sports, was fast running out”, Kola Dare stated.
But while the scrutiny was still going on, a heavy rain and windstorm, inflicted more destruction on the stadium.
An immediate casualty is one of the four floodlight towers.
Sports Village Square reports that the 62.18 metre tall towers have been emblematic of the stadium since it was commissioned on 4 December 1972 by General Yakubu Gowon as Head of State.
The floodlight towers are easily seen even many kilometres away from Surulere area of Lagos.
But tt is doubtful, if any work had been done on any of the four towers since installation in the early 1970s.
With each standing at 62.18 metres, it was problematic putting the towers in place during the construction of the stadium.
Sports Village Square’s checks reveal that there was the problem of reaching the top of the four towers by crane during the construction. At the time, the tallest crane in Lagos was 38.1 metres.
Trial concrete mixes were carried out for the various types of concrete to be used for the construction works. Suitable mixes were obtained and work progressed until there was shortage of steel reinforcement.
Modifications were made and work ended early in January 1973 just in time for the Second All Africa Games which acted as a catalyst for speeding up the beginning and completion of the project.
The minister’s spokesman pointed out that floodlight towers were not covered by the on going rehabilitation work.
“To properly put the need to regularly maintain our sports facilities, as being championed by the Sports Minister and to mildly respond to nay sayers, who thinks it is out of place to spend huge amount of money to renovate stadiums, the Manchester City example should suffice.”
Kola Dare used the Manchester City home ground to illustrate his point.
“Only this week the Board of Manchester City, wrote the Council, seeking permission to upscale the Etihad Stadium, from 60,000 to 67,000 seats.
“The figures for this project has been put at US$317 million dollars, and a substantial percentage of the total sum is reserved for the routine rehabilitation or maintenance of parts of the facility, which at present is top notch and ranked amongst the top 5 stadiums, in England.
“This underscores the need to inculcate a variable and sustainable maintenance culture, as every structure is liable to wear and tear, once put into use.
“Nigeria should therefore brace up to this fact and cannot afford to continue playing the Ostrich”.
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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