Nigeria’s sports ministry came under heavy criticism over the poor state of the Moshood Abiola Stadium when the Super Eagles defeated Sierra Leone 2-1 in the AFCON qualifiers in June, prompting it to embark on a revamping project on the stadium.
It has, however, ended up deceiving Nigerians with the information it put out.
Work was evidently done on the pitch of the main bowl with an upgraded technical bench to beautify it.
But the ministry misled Nigerians during its July 24 press release when it said two training pitches were also ready ahead of another AFCON qualifier in September.
The Claim: Moshood Abiola Stadium Wears New Look, as Two Training Pitches are Ready for Use
“In the aftermath of the Nigeria-Ghana World Cup playoff game, the Minister for Youth and Sports Development promised that work will be done on the stadium and the minister kept to his word, as the turf has returned to a lush state.
“This development was orchestrated by an increase in the quality of maintenance.
“The work done was also extended to the training pitches, as two of the training pitches in the stadium have now been brought up to standard for use.”
The Fact
A fact check by our sports correspondent Abiola Shodiya showed the claim to be misleading. Only one of the training pitches is ready for use and is being used by the national teams.
The U-20 women's national team, the Falconets, trained on the only ready pitch before traveling to Costa Rica for the World Cup.
The home-based Super Eagles have also been using the only ready training pitch as they prepare to play Ghana in a 2023 CHAN qualifier.
The other pitch is being grassed and is not ready for use.
