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”.
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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