The Super Eagles will begin their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign at the National Stadium Surulere or the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja in May against Cape Verde, according to sports minister Sunday Dare.
Dare made this declaration after an inspection visit of the National Stadium pitch in Surulere, Lagos, which is undergoing rehabilitation.
“It’s high time we had a familiar ground for our national teams. The Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja and the Surulere National Stadium, Lagos will be ready to host matches next year and it will be a major plus to our teams when they have a familiar ground,” he said.
“This arrangement is under the adopt initiative which is a public-private model that we developed. We were able to pitch that to the private sector.
“We discussed with a philanthropist and lover of sports Sir Adebutu Keshington, who was convinced about the proposal. He is somebody that has the youth of this country at heart and has done so much to support youth and sports development.
“As a form of CSR he is committed to providing fund at 100 percent and we have no doubt that it will be completed in May.
“This stadium has a rich history with the likes of Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami and host of ex-internationals who played at the memorable edifice that hosted so many international competitions.
“The engineer working on the site has assured that the stadium will be ready for use by May next year.”
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