Wikki Tourists to play home matches in Jos

By Taofeek Babalola

Wikki Tourists FC of Bauchi will play their home matches at the new Zaria Road Stadium Complex in Jos for the 2017/2018 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season, Sportinglens.blogspot.com reports.

The development is as a result of the ongoing renovation at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium (ATBS) in Bauchi, the traditional home ground of Wikki Tourists.

ATBS’s pitch is being re-laid by the Bauchi State Government for the next football season. It is the first time in nineteen years that the pitch will be re-laid- since it was used for the hosting of the FIFA U17 World Cup, Nigeria ’99.

The club’s media officer, Bala Kurba said the contractor handling ATBS project won’t be unable to finish the job before the league kicks off this weekend. 

Kurba revealed that the team’s contingent will depart Bauchi for Jos tomorrow ahead of Sunday’s game against the newly promoted side, Go Round FC of Port-Harcourt. 

“We are going to play our game in Jos because of the ongoing renovation at the ATBS. In fact, it is going to be a difficult situation for us because all our three home games are very tough matches. We are meeting Go Round in our first game and we don’t know much about them. 

“We will host Niger Tornadoes in the second game which is going to be a northern derby. Our third home game is against FC IfeanyiUbah. FC IfeanyiUbah is a big team and we forced them to a draw last season and playing them at a neutral ground won’t be easy for us. It is a challenge that we have to face and we are ready to give everything to it. It is our hope that we will get good results in all our games,” Kurba said to Sportinglens.blogspot.com.

The club’s image-maker also revealed that the team will proceed to Ilorin from Jos for their mid-week game against Kwara United on Wednesday.