NSC Says Abuja National Stadium Pitch will Soon Be Ready.

 The National Sports Commission,NSC, has said that comprehensive rehabilitation works on the main pitch of the National Stadium Abuja is almost at the completion stage.

The contractor handling the project, Julius Berger PLC has completed the first phase of the work, which includes removal and replacement of the topsoil, and planting the approved specie of grass.

Director of Facilities at the National Sports Commission, NSC, Engineer Ibrahim Shehu, said at present the  contractor were nurturing the grass of National Stadium pitch and it would be ready for use from 15th of August, 2013 after which it would observe for two weeks.

He also stated that main pitch of the stadium would be ready for use from that date. “The pitch would be ready for light use from August 15th and we will observe it for two weeks. After that, the pitch can be used regularly for football and other sporting activities.”

On plans to regularly maintain the stadium, Engineer Shehu stated that the Commission has concluded arrangement with the contractor to maintain the stadium for six months after it is handed over to the Commission.

 He further added that the Commission has put in place systems to ensure that the stadium would be  well maintained all year round,adding that horrible state of the football pitch was because the power cable used to supply electricity to the stadium was vandalized.

“The problem we had was that the power cable that was used to power electricity to the stadium was vandalized. Without electricity we could not use the sprinklers to wet the grass. Now we have put systems in place to check all that. We now have water tanker for the manual watering of the grass.”


Shehu also assured that the NSC had perfected plans to put the stadium to active use throughout the year with the provision of a water tanker to wet the football pitch through a manual system.