“The Teslim Balogun Stadium will have a world-class natural grass playing surface in two months’ time and this will ensure that the Eagles can return to Lagos for their home matches.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Sports Anthony Adeboye has lamented the lack of a stable home for the senior men’s national team, saying Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was working hard on returning the Super Eagles to their traditional home in Lagos.
The Eagles have not had a stable stadium for their home matches – having played at the National Stadium, Abuja, the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, and the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo in recent times.
The team trained at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, for the 2019 AFCON qualifier against South Africa and would play Uganda there in their November 20 friendly.
Adeboye, who spoke with journalists in Lagos on Thursday, said the Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was determined to correct the anomaly by ensuring that a playing turf of international standard was delivered at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
He said the completion of the playing surface, on which work has started, would ensure that the Eagles have a stable home in Lagos.
Adeboye said, “It is a thing of shame that Nigeria don’t have a stable place that we can call the home of the Super Eagles and the Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is working hard to ensure that the team return to Lagos, which has been their home for many years.
“The Teslim Balogun Stadium will have a world-class natural grass playing surface in two months’ time and this will ensure that the Eagles can return to Lagos for their home matches.”
He said the Onikan Stadium, which is also under reconstruction, would be ready in January.
“The Onikan Stadium is almost completed and by January it will be open for use. The stadium will have a world-class artificial turf, which is different from the old ones that cause injuries to players. There are plans to ensure that sporting facilities are accessible to every part of Lagos,” he said.
“The governor has the vision of making Lagos the hub of sports and every sports follower can bear witness that this is coming to pass. The Nigeria Open table tennis event holds in Lagos, also Lagos has one of the best marathons in the world – the Access Bank/Lagos City Marathon. We are also working to ensure that we add athletics to the series of sports classics we already have.”
