Barring unforeseen circumstances, night game would return to the ancient city of Ibadan today as Shooting Stars Sports Club hosts Enugu Rangers in a matchday 16 fixture of the Nigeria Professional Football League.
For lovers of football, the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan, is the place to be for the big NPFL match scheduled to kick off at 7:00pm.
The idea of playing night game at the Stadium unarguably, came largely from the huge investment made by Governor Seyi Makinde in the stadium which was upgraded last year and commissioned with a night game involving a number of ex-internationals and Shooting Stars legends.
In the 60s through the 90s, fans in Ibadan had always had the luxury of watching night games then at the Liberty Stadium now Obafemi Awolowo Stadium which hosted the 1999 FIFA U20 World Cup games where some of the fixtures were played at night.
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Today, fans are in for an exciting time as the NPFL grudge game takes the centre stage.
The League Management Company (LMC), had last week in a letter by its Chief Operating Officer, Salihu Abubakar, conveyed the approval of the body for the Oluyole Warriors to play its home games under floodlights with conditions that would ensure smooth hosting.
This development however, was greeted with mixed reactions from football stakeholders in the state and beyond.
This was as a result of divergent views on why night matches taking into consideration the security situation in the state. Some wonder how convenient it would be for fans and spectators who always throng the match venue in large numbers to cheer their darling team.
Speaking with Tribunesport on Monday night during the training of 3SC at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Secretary of the Oyo State Football Association, Mr Kehinde Ojelowo, said that the motive behind night game is to test the gigantic sporting facilities in preparation for future hosting of international matches at night. He said that there are so many football enthusiasts who are not always free in the afternoon to come to the stadium and boost their darling team, but playing at night would make this possible for them to come.
“Playing under floodlights would enable us to test run the facilities here and make necessary amendments and also prepare us for future hosting of international matches involving all our national teams, Ojelowo said.
He stated that adequate security arrangement for the match has been made by the state government saying that, this is the major area the LMC hammers on its letter of approval.
“Spectators coming for the match have nothing to fear about because the state government has zero tolerance for criminality and want spectators to have value for their money. Security in and around the stadium has been beefed up ahead of the match.We now have personnel of Operation Burst, NSCDC, OYRTMA, Man O War, Amotekun, Swift Response Squad who would be on duty when the match is taking place. So, there is no cause for alarm and moreso, there are CCTV cameras around the stadium to help in terms of security,” Ojelowo told Sportingtribune.
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Newly-appointed Sole Administrator of the Oluyole Warriors, Honourable Fatai Olaniyan Akoro expressed reservation about the idea of night game.
“Well, I think it is not advisable to be playing all our home matches at night because we will be denying most of our fans, especially those coming from places like Lagos, Ilorin, Osogbo, Ogun and Ogbomoso, an opportunity to watch afternoon games,” Olaniyan, a retired referee told Sportingtribune.
Meanwhile, fans who thronged the stadium to watch the team’s training session on Monday night are waiting eagerly to experience night match today.
A fan, Mr Adetona told Sportingtribune, ”The atmosphere here at Adamasingba is good and beautiful as you can see, it is serene and the beauty of the Stadium really came out. It will be good to watch Shooting Stars play in the night because the weather is nice. Most workers who will go to work would have closed before the match and would want to come to the stadium to cheer their darling team to victory. To me, it’s a welcome idea.”
Meanwhile, Olaniyan, was officially introduced to the officials and players of 3SC by its acting General Manager, Dimeji Lawal, before the training session on Monday night; where he told them to put last weekend’s loss to Abia Warriors behind and focus on tonight’s game against Rangers which he termed a “must win”.