The Chairman of Abia Warriors FC Coach John Obu has assured the teeming fans and supporters of the club that their Abia Warriors FC, will continue to play their matches at their home ground, Umuahia Township Stadium.
Speaking on the state of the Umuahia stadium concerning the recent pronouncement of the Nigeria Premier Football Club (NPFL), the former U-17 & U-20 Head Coach said, “Actually we have done a lot of work on the pitch since we received the NPFL directives. We have improved on the state of the pitch, and it will be very okay to host matches as soon as the league resumes.”
Giving a background on the decisions of the NPFL to banish his team, Obu who tutored the Golden Eagles to win the silver medal at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009, said, “this issue started when we went for the draws of the league. The management of the League body called me and said that they would not approve the Umuahia stadium for us to use unless we improved on certain things. This we worked on, and at the end of the inspection, the team that came gave us a thumbs up and encouraged us to improve on the seating arrangements and the entrance.
“It is baffling that after we have invested money in putting everythinh in order at the stadium, before the first stanza of the league could end, the NPFL came up with that directive. The annoying aspect of it is that they base their claims on what they read on social media or what the teams said. None of the bosses at the NPFL have visited the stadium to see things themselves. Even with what we are doing now, nobody gave directives on where to improve. It is very disheartening that it is only when teams come to Umuahia and get beaten that they will realise that the pitch is bad. But you hardly hear comments from those who got positive results from the pitch. We have the worst astro turf pitches that teams are using for matches, and no one is looking at that. Everyone is interested in killing the grass pitches”.
Obu, however, insisted that they will put the pitch in a better shape before the commencement of the second stanza of the NPFL season, adding, “before then, we intend to conduct a media tour of the stadium, and invite the leadership of the NPFL to come for a first-hand inspection before the resumption of the league.”
