Liberia: CAF Conducts Inspection at SKD

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) through one of its licensing inspectors, Emmanuel N. Dasoberi, on Thursday conducted a stadium assessment and inspection at the SKD Sports Stadium in Paynesville.

Earlier, CAF through its local inspector, Alex Nagbo, conducted an assessment and inspection at the facility. Thursday’s inspection visit comes days following the installation of artificial turf and bucket seats at the sporting facility.

As a standard routine, Dasoberi was taken on an inspection tour at the facility as he inspected various parts of the stadium. This means the fate of the SKD for Liberia’s home matches in the 2022 CHAN and 2023 AFCON qualifiers will be decided in the coming weeks.

The SKD is yet to host an international match since it was banned in 2019. Recently, the senior national team of Liberia, the Lone Star, had to play their first home match in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers away from home in Casablanca, Morocco.

After the government spent a little over US$100,000 to implement the previous renovation works at the SKD, CAF reinspected the stadium and upheld its decision to ban the SKD based on the deplorable condition of the playing pitch.  This prompted the government of Liberia's decision to appropriate US$1.75 million for the renovation and placement of artificial turf at the stadium.

The fund was appropriated in the draft national budget for the fiscal year 2022. US$1 million was set aside for the renovation of the facility, while the US$750,000 will be used for the placement of the artificial turf. 

The turf project, valued at US$750,000, is being implemented by GreenFields, a global FIFA preferred football turf provider, supplier, and innovator of sports turf technology.

GreenFields, a Dutch company, has installed over 3,500 fields worldwide, including three durable Slide Max Pro pitches in Liberia. The pitches include the SKD Practice Pitch, the Doris Williams Sports Pitch, and the Tusa Field.