Winners of this season’s contest in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), Remo Stars FC of Ikenne have been tipped as credible contenders to become Africa’s next club champions, once their home stadium’s pitch is upgraded to continental standards.
This verdict was passed by the chief executive of Monimichelle Sports Facility Construction Limited, Ebi Egbe, who told Sports247 that his own contribution to ensure that the Ogun State-based outfit owned by Honourable Kunle Soname win the next CAF Champions League is to help them upgrade their home ground in Ikenne.
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While many Nigerian football fans already adjudge Remo Stars Stadium as best in the country at present, Egbe pointed out that some upgrades have to be made at the arena in order to make it meet up to both African and global standards.
Egbe added duting an exclusive interview with Sports247 in Abuja: “We are trying to upgrade the Remo Stadium pitch to meet CAF standard, because we all know they have a continental run coming up; and we have just few months to get it ready for them.
“So, we are already discussing and looking at the World Cup standards in Abuja; to see how we can work on the floodlights and stuff like that.”
Egbe then pointed at some high standards that have already been set in the NPFL and gave applause to the league board’s chairman, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye, for ensuring that most clubs now have television friendly venues.
He added, “Let me thank Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye. He’s a great guy who’s setting standards. One of them is that if you do not have a good playing surface, they’ll move your team to a different venue.
“It’s all about TV friendly pitches; but facility owners have to understand that Gbenga cannot do it alone. They, too, have a part to play.
“It’s also important for them to understand that the playing surface is the most important part of a stadium … followed by the ancillary facilities.
“If we want to talk about growing our league, let facilities owners support Gbenga Elegbeleye by making sure all venues meet the correct standard for our local league.”
He concluded by stating that another factor which should propel Remo Stars far in the CAF Champions League is because they emerged as credible winners of a well-organised and highly competitive domestic contest in the NPFL’s immediate past term.
Egbe posited: “The league management board is doing a great job. Big thanks too to GTI for all their support to the league. That’s why this last season’s run was very good.
“We were all excited, and we saw the real champions emerge. That’s why I can tell you that Remo Stars is going to go far in the Champions League. They have all the facilities and they have all the boys to make it happen.”
The pitch installation expert equally predicted that the new wave of upgrade for sports facilities across Nigeria will help the country get better performances from the national teams in all their forthcoming international engagements
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