With barely three weeks to the commencement of the 2017 Nigeria Professional Football League season, everything points to Enyimba FC of Aba remaining in exile as they did for most part of last season.
Reason: The state government has abandoned the club’s stadium renovation project which it started early this year.
The Peoples Elephants as the club is fondly called played most of their matches last term in Port Harcourt, no thanks to the construction work going on at their Aba fortress. Our team gathered that the contractor handling the project has since left site after failing to get the needed fund to complete the job.
According to our source there is no way Enyimba can return home at the start of the season as the job cannot be completed in three weeks even if the state government pays the contract now.
“The re grassing of the Enyimba stadium turf has become a failed project. Initially the job was to be completed in weeks for the club to return home and play last season’s continental games there.
Unfortunately that was not to be. Even as we speak, the project has been abandoned and everything points to the club remaining in exile with the new season billed to start in December,” our source disclosed.
He pointed out that Enyimba’s poor run last term in both the league and CAF Champions League had to do with the club not playing at home.
It would be recalled that Enyimba lost their first CAF Champions League group match to Zamalek in Port Harcourt last season and ended up not going beyond the group stage.
Enyimba fans had after that home loss to Zamalek protested the failure of the state government to complete the Enyimba stadium project.
credit: sunnewsonline