Liberia: President Weah to Dedicate Refurbished SKD Today

Following the official turnover of the newly installed artificial turf and bucket seats at the SKD Sports Stadium in Paynesville, Chief Patron of Sports, President George Manneh Weah, is expected to officially dedicate the facility today.

Recently, GreenFields, a Dutch company, officially completed and turned over the installation of artificial turf at the stadium following months of work.

This followed after the installation of 22,293 bucket seats around the facility and renovations in other parts of the stadium. 

The government of Liberia in the 2022 fiscal budget allocated US$1.75 million for the SKD’s refurbishment project, which includes the installation of the artificial turf.

According to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the President will be taken on a guided tour of the facility to inspect the completed works. 

This will be followed by a friendly encounter between the Government of Liberia All-Star and the local national team of Liberia that are currently on camp for their upcoming match against Senegal in the 2022 CHAN Qualifiers.

Liberia will host Senegal at the SKD on July 24 in the first leg of the CHAN qualifiers before traveling to Senegal for the return leg, thanks to CAF for a one-match greenlight given to Liberia after its first inspection.

Since the official opening of the SKD Stadium in 1986, the official home turf of the Liberia national football team has had natural grass. After decades of activities and renovations, the playing pitch was no longer playable and the facility was outdated and could not “fully meet the set CAF stadium minimum requirements.”

This led to the banning of SKD, depriving Liberians of watching the Lone Star play its home matches in other countries since 2020. However, Liberians will on July 24 have the opportunity to watch their national team play on home soil.