Presidential Committee Recommends Ban On Bottled Water, Canned Drinks At Match Venues

The Presidential Investigative Committee on the vandalism of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium has recommended that henceforth bottled water and canned drinks should be banned within the precincts of football pitches at match venues.

This was contained in the report the committee headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Sanni Mohammed (rtd) submitted to the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare in his office yesterday.

In his submission, the Chairman thanked the federal government through the Minister for finding the committee members worthy of the assignment, stating the Committee adhered strictly to the terms of reference and did its utmost to make far-reaching recommendations.

Apart from the recommendation on bottled water and canned drinks, the Committee submitted that protocol and security officials should be involved in the planning stages of future events.

“One of our key recommendations is that protocol and security officials should be involved in the planning stage of future events or tournaments while the sale of bottled water and canned drinks should be banned within the precincts of the football pitch as they can be weaponised,” DIG Mohammed(Rtd) said.

The Minister in his response after receiving the report, thanked the Committee for the extensive nature of their work which he stated was very impressive.

He promised full implementation of the report, whilst emphasising its recommendations would serve as new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Ministry and NFF in planning for future events.

Restating his resolve to sanction culprits of the vandalism, Dare assured that where they are identified in the report, the full weight of the law will be brought upon them to serve as a deterrent.

The Minister, therefore regretted the fine imposed on Nigeria as a result of the vandalism, expressed satisfaction that the stadium was not banned as it is billed to play host to Nigeria’s first game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in early June.

The Presidential Investigative Committee was set up to uncover the remote and immediate causes of the vandalisation of the MKO Abiola national stadium Abuja on March 29 after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.