Sports
Norbert Okolie, Media Office of the Enugu-based Rangers International FC has expressed confidence that the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL)will reverse itself and allow the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium (NAS) to host the club’s home matches this season.
Okolie, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday, said that the League Management Company (LMC) should have inspected the stadium before taking its decision on its repairs and upgrade.
” I did not see any reason why Rangers should not play at the NAS because I believed that the decision may have been taken in error.
” We do not have any correspondence to show that the stadium was duly inspected and besides, this is a stadium that had hosted continental matches before’’, he added
He noted that the club and the Ministry of Youths and Sport in the State were making representations to the LMC on why the stadium should host NPFL matches.
Okolie expressed optimism that the football body in the country would see reason with the club and the state.
A Director in the State Ministry of Youths and Sports, Mr Boniface Onovo, who promised that matches will be played inside the stadium, confirmed that the Ministry received a letter on the stadium upgrade but that the letter came late.
He called on the LMC to consider the time set for the new season, and consider giving the State up to the end of the season for the work on the stadium to commence.
” LMC demands will be better served during the offseason when there will be much time for most of the work to be done at the stadium,” Onovo said.
Also speaking to NAN, a former Director of Sports in the ministry, Mr. John Eli said that failure of the club to play at home would be a disaster as upgrading a synthetic pitch requires a lot in terms of funding and other logistics, especially at this time of the coronavirus pandemic.
He backed calls for an extension of time for the club and the state to enable them to fix what needed to be fixed because the time given for the work was too short. (NAN)
– Nov. 9, 2020 @ 15:05 GMT |
Tags: NPFL: Rangers Official wants club to play at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium
