Lack of training pitches costs Nigeria hosting right

*Governor Dapo Abiodun (left), and Ibrahim Gusau (right).

Pitches

By Shareef Ibala, Managing Editor

Abeokuta, August 19, 2025 (CrestNewsOnline.ng) Lack of standard training pitches to complement a major sports facility has now cost Abeokuta and Nigeria by extension the hosting right of a major football competition, crestnewsonline.ng has been reliably informed.

crestnewsonline.ng understands that this was because sports authorities in Ogun failed to include training pitches in their consideration during the most recent rehabilitation of the M.K.O. Abiola Sports Arena, formerly known as M.K.O. Abiola Stadium.

The result of this is that this has now denied the state capital city the hosting right of the 2025 WAFU Zone B Under-17 Boys Cup Competition scheduled for September.

The facility was recently rehabilitated ahead of the 2024 National Sports Festival (NSF), held in Ogun in May, and the CAA Under-18/Under-20 Championships in Abeokuta in June.

The state government’s move by mobilizing resources to rehabilitate the Abeokuta facility between December and May had then inspired Ibrahim Gusau, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, to pick Abeokuta for the competition.

Gusau had during a visit to Abeokuta in May gleefully informed Governor Dapo Abiodun of the state’s choice, with the facilities at the Remo Stars Sports Institute in Ikenne to serve as complementary.

Gusau, who is also President of West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B, now faces an embarrassing situation after giving his words to his WAFU colleagues about Nigeria’s hosting.

The development looks pathetic, given that Abeokuta city’s other football facility, the Mudashiru Lawal Stadium at Asero, had long become derelict as a result of a neglect dating back to near two decades now.

A number of secondary schools in the city —- African Church Grammar School, St. Peter’s College, Abeokuta Grammar School and Baptist Boys High School (BBHS) —- have football pitches that can be used as training pitches.

They have however been put under consideration and found to be below standard for a competition like the sub-regional football event which will have Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Togo, Republic of Benin and Ghana as other participants.

The competition could have also utilised the nearby Remo Stars Sports Institute’s facilities in Ikenne, but these are also unavailable now.

The owners of the facilities which host Remo Stars Football Club have already dug up the pitches for rehabilitation, as part of preparations for the 2025/2026 season.

This has forced Remo Stars into playing their opening home matches in the 2025/2026 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) in Abeokuta at the M.K.O. Abiola Sports Arena, with their upcoming Match Day One against Rivers United slated for Abeokuta on Friday.

crestnewsonline.ng recalls that unavailability of training pitches at the Sports Arena had forced away from the facility the football events of the 2024 NSF in May.

WAFU Zone B, owners of the Under-17 Boys Competition, have already started considering another venue for the event, with Côte d’Ivoire listed as the tentative new hosts of the competition which will serve as a qualifier for the 2025 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations.

Ademola Olajire, NFF’s Director of Communications, however told crestnewsonline.ng on Tuesday the Federation was unaware of the development and neither had it been informed of any change of venue.

“We are not aware of any change in the venue so far. No one has told us of anything to that effect,” he said.

Meanwhile, an inspection team of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is being expected in Abeokuta on Thursday.(www.crestnewsonline.ng)

*Edited by Olawale Lawanson Alabi