Manchester United refused to play friendly in Nigeria at Teslim Balogun Stadium, says ex-Super Eagles captain

Former Super Eagles captain and 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner, Segun Odegbami has revealed that Premier League giants Manchester United turned down a friendly proposal to face an unnamed team at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.

The Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere is currently being remodeled, including re-grassing the football pitch. 

Odegbami emphasized that the appeal of the Nigeria Premier Football League has to be enhanced to take it to the next level.

This entails upgrading the playing surfaces to natural grass, akin to those found in European football stadiums, rather than artificial turf.

Odegbami highlighted that Manchester United rejected playing at the Teslim Balogun Stadium because of the playing surface. 

Speaking to Arise News, Odegbami said: "I went to negotiate with Manchester United to come and play here when I was working with Globacom.

"Discussed everything, when they now asked where the game was going to be played, at Teslim Balogun Stadium, artificial turf, they would not come.

"We played against so many foreign teams in those days because it was grass. You need grass turfs and that's partly why I went to AFCON."

Manchester United have not visited Nigeria since 2008 when they faced Portsmouth in a pre-season game at the National Stadium in Abuja.

The Teslim Balogun Stadium hosted eight games during the 2009 Fifa U17 World Cup including the semifinal matches involving Nigeria, Spain, Switzerland and Colombia. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

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