President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, has said the body will send a project report to the world’s football governing body, FIFA, on the progress of the NFF-FIFA players’ hostel and new training pitches in Abuja.
Named the NFF-FIFA Players’ Hostel, the 68-room facility is located at the heart of Package B of the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
The construction, which is projected to last 24 months, is funded through the FIFA Forward 3.0 programme.
Gusau praised the contractors working on the project for the pace of work, which groundbreaking ceremony was done on March 18 this year.
During an inspection of the site, which is located opposite the NFF Secretariat inside the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on Thursday, Gusau, in company with some members of NFF management, was conducted round the various sections of the project by the lead architect, Architect Gambo Ahmadu.
After the inspection, Gusau expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the site and expressed confidence that the contractors will be able to deliver on the 24-month mandate given for the completion of the work.
‘I am happy with the pace of the work, the seriousness shown so far by the contractors, and the quality of the work as seen so far. They have a 24-month mandate to deliver, and at the pace they are going, they should be able to complete the players’ hostel and the training pitches on or before that timeline.
‘I am also impressed with the quality of work. For the present NFF administration, it is a legacy project, and it is very close to our hearts’.
I am also happy that the project is located close to the office, where members of the NFF Executive Committee (whenever any of them are in Abuja), I and the NFF management and staff can easily monitor what is being done’.
The inspection took Gusau and his team to the site of the new training pitches, the old training pitch, which is also to undergo extensive renovation, and the two-story players’ hostel, which will have several office and conference facilities on the ground floor, while the first and second floors will house the rooms for the players and officials.
‘We need the report of what has been done so far, alongside photographs, for us to send to FIFA so that they know how far the project has gone’, Gusau told Architect Ahmadu.
According to the NFF, Gusau tabled the proposal for this legacy project to the executive commitee, and it was unanimously endorsed that the NFF’s residual funds from the FIFA 2.0 and the proposed funds from then incipient FIFA 3.0 be utilised for the construction of a befitting hostel accommodation for the national teams, and the construction of two football Pitches (one natural turf and one synthetic turf) for use by the teams at the Goal Project section of the Package B of MKO Abiola National Stadium.
