By Paul Augustine Kpaka
I don’t know why the outrage and disappointment about our stadium ban by CAF..
We had this coming for a long time.. And we probably deserve it, sadly. This is the only stadium we have with the capacity to host international matches. And it is the same stadium we host inaugurations, concerts, crusades, athletics and what not.. Added to that, it has become a relaxation spot and a place of dwelling. Not to talk about other mischievous activities taking place inside the complex, and stray dogs roaming the terraces.
So naturally, as a people who are allergic to maintenance, and trashing everything and anything owned by the government, the ban by CAF was a comeuppance.. We have been complaining for decades that the stadium was in poor shape to host international football matches. The pitch itself is probably one of the worst, if not the worst one can play on. And i say that with utter shame for our country..
The return match against Nigeria last October in the AFCON qualifiers, that was televised world wide, seems to have been the final nail into our coffin.. It exposed us to worldwide ridicule as to how poor a state our stadium and pitch was. Remember that? The memes and twitter jokes.
Maybe, just maybe, this will force us into a rethink on how we maintain the only national stadium we have when all is said and done.
Hopefully something good will come out of this saga after all.
