FREETOWN, March 26 (Reuters) - FIFA has banned matches at Sierra Leone's
decrepit national stadium until the ground is brought up to international
standards, the impoverished country's football association (SLFA) said on
Wednesday.
The SLFA said it had received a letter from world soccer's ruling body
stating that safety provisions as well as changing and medical facilities at the
Freetown stadium were inadequate.
The former British colony, wrecked and brutalised by a decade of civil war in
which rebels hacked off people's arms and legs with machetes, is bottom of the
United Nations Human Development Index which ranks countries by quality of life.
Soccer provides welcome relief for many of its poor, unemployed citizens --
including charity games between teams of amputees who lost limbs in rebel
atrocities.
England midfielder David Beckham's visit in January as a goodwill ambassador
for U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF drew cheering crowds.
During the war, Freetown's stadium became a haven for displaced people
fleeing a rebel advance, and it was damaged when rebel fighters overran the
humid ocean-side city in 1999.
China, which first built the stadium nearly 30 years ago, funded a facelift
two years later as the war drew to a close.
But the structure, which sees regular use as Freetown's major venue not only
for sport, but also concerts and political rallies, has again fallen into
disrepair.
The decision to ban matches at the national stadium came as little surprise
to some fans. A visiting FIFA team warned the SLFA last year to improve
facilities at the stadium, but little has been done since.
"The decision by FIFA is most welcome, because it is long overdue for the
entire football pitch to be engaged in maintenance," Abu Turay, who plays with
the Port Authority team in the country's Premier League, told Reuters.
"Bravo FIFA! Don't relent," he said.
Sierra Leone are due to host their next home game on June 6, a 2010 World Cup
qualifier against Nigeria in Group 4.
FIFA
bans matches at decrepit Sierra Leone stadium | Breaking News | guardian.co.uk
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