By Ibrahim Tukur

The Borno State government has expressed its lamentations over the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) decision to relocate the El-Kanemi Warriors’ continental home matches to the Ikenne Stadium in Ogun State.
 
The state’s Commissioner for Sports, Saina Buba, lamented the extra financial implications of this directive. 
 
According to Foot-Afrik, Buba explained that, hosting the matches in Ikenne would cost the state government between N5 million and N6 million for logistics alone. 
 
“Playing in Ikenne will cost the state between 5 million and 6 million naira in terms of logistics to host the match in Ogun State,” Buba said. 
 
“The past few days we have been battling to see how we can change this as CAF has released a bulletin that we will play in Remo (Ikenne). And playing there, we have to pay 5–6 million naira before we can use the stadium, so we are trying to sort out many things at the moment.”
 
The commissioner also expressed disappointment at the lack of suitable stadiums in the northern region to host such matches. “It is unfortunate that throughout the North, there is no stadium that can host us,” he added. 
 
The additional costs incurred by the state government include transportation, accommodation, and stadium usage fees. 
 
The relocation of home matches will not only affect the team’s performance but also put a financial burden on the state government, which is already grappling with limited resources due to the humanitarian crisis.
 
El-Kanemi Warriors, based in Maiduguri, qualified for continental football in June 2024. However, due to the suboptimal condition of their home stadium, the club has been forced to play their home matches at a neutral venue.