LMC certifies 13 stadiums ahead of 2020/2021 NPFL season

Ahead the 2020/21 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season, and as part of the broader club licensing regime, 13 stadiums across the country have been certified by the League Management Company (LMC) to have met minimum requirements to host games.

Another 11 were recommended for varying degrees of upgrade and repair works before they can be certified.

This was communicated to the clubs in a memo which the LMC sent out on Friday, October 30. The memo read in part, “in line with the CAF Circular of July 26, 2020 on stadium infrastructure among others, which was forwarded to you and the need to meet up with the requirements of high quality television production by our new partners, the LMC has reviewed various reports submitted on the state of our stadia across the country”.

It explained that the inspected stadiums have been categorised into two-A and B with Category A representing those that have been approved to host NPFL matches for the season having met the minimum requirements while Category B includes those requiring upgrades.

“We have made notes on the areas/repairs needed to be done before recertification”, the memo stated. The 13 approved grounds include Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin, Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt and Okigwe Township Stadium.

Others that met the requirements are Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, Gombe Township Stadium, Pantami, Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi, Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, Enyimba International Stadium, Aba, Muhammad Dikko Stadium, Katsina and Ilorin Township Stadium