Douala Stadium artificial turf stolen ahead of 2019 AFCON tournament

Tonnes of the artificial turf taken out of the stadium premises light by motorcycle taxi [Photo: Courtesy]

The 160, 000 square foot Cameroon’s Douala Stadium artificial turf that was recently removed to enable the placement of natural grass as part of preparations for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been stolen and sold back to black market.

Tonnes of the artificial turf was reportedly taken out of the stadium premises in a broad day light by motorcycle taxi men in the last three days.

The incident has angered various football stakeholders in the country including a veteran journalist Nathaniel Njong who was the first to find out about the occurrences.

“The stadium construction is under the administration of a new director but this grass was put by the Cameroonian Federation (Fecafoot) who are its owner.” Njong said while speaking via soka25east.

“I fail to understand why this artificial turf which is in a good condition is being sold instead of being placed in small stadiums such as Wouri, Nkam, Moungo, Sanaga-Maritime which were recently approved to host the matches of the Division 2 Championship and possibly to be training stadiums for professional league clubs.” he added.

The Stadium, built in 1972, is set to host some of the 2019 AFCON tournament.