–After Refurnish Pitch and Seating Capacity
IPNEWS-Monrovia: The authoritative IPNEWS has gathered that the Chief Patron of Sports and former World Footballer of the year, now President of Liberia, George Weah, will on Friday, July 15, 2022, inaugurate the refurbished Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Sports Complex at 9:00 A. M.
According to Ministry of Youth Sports’ sources, the dedication is expected to be followed by a football match between the Cabinet, led by the 1995 World, European and African Footballer of the and the Current Lone Star squad.
SKD newly laid artificial turf
President Weah and the cabinet will also tour the Complex before the match to see the level of renovation and tremendous works currently taking place by the Ministry of Youth and Sports under the wing of Minister D. Zeogar Wilson and team.
The Samuel Kanyon Sports Complex’s was initiated by slain Liberian President William R. Tolbert, Jr. in the late 1790s following agreement with the People’s Republic of China. President Tolbert did not get to see his dream become a reality when he was overthrown in a violent coup on April 12, 1980.
SKD newly laid artificial turf
The stadium was completed under the military regime of Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe, who was an ardent football lover. Upon completion Sergeant Doe named the stadium after himself and became known as the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, because of the multiple sporting events it can host, including athletics.
After the 14-year civil war, the SKD Sports Complex was left in ruins, as it hosted many internally displaced persons (IDPs), who sought refuge from marauding rebels of different warring factions that fought for control of Monrovia and its environs.
Fast forward to the restoration of civil authority and civil rule, the SKD pitch was refurbished with natural grasses on one or two occasions but due to soft soil the grasses could not withstand the intensity.
During President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration, the government of the People’s Republic of China renovated the stadium, and also refurbished the pitch and installed an electronic scoreboard, at what they put at several million dollars.
Youth and Sports Minister D Zeogar Wilson
Few years later, when the George Weah’s administration took state power after the 2017 elections, the stadium still needed more work to put it on par internationally. CAF and FIFA banned it later, but after doing all it can, and with financial support from the Government of Liberia, the SKD Sports Pitch got a brand new artificial pitch, while bucket seats were installed in the entire stadium.
Just a fortnight ago, CAF and FIFA sent inspectors following the refurbishing of the SKD, and from all indications, the CAF and FIFA ban on the stadium is expected to be lifted so that international football once more return to the SKD, where the national football team, the Lone Star plays is home games.
Meanwhile, several Liberians are expected to throng to the SKD on Friday to witness the inauguration ceremony of the stadium as well as watch beautiful football game on the newly laid artificial turf.
