The Minister of Sport and Youth Development, Solomon Dalong, has discouraged the use of sport facilities for other purposes other than what they were originally meant for.
He gave the charge on Saturday while inspecting facilities at the UJ Esuene stadium in Calabar, Cross River State, ahead of the 19th National Sport Festival scheduled to hold in the state later in the year.
According to Dalong, converting stadiums to other uses such as hosting of social events including carnivals, weddings, birthdays and so on, were counter-productive as it degrades the facilities in the stadiums.
He added that the advice became imperative after going through facilities in the stadium and others across the country.
He said: “The turf of the football pitch here appears to be in bad shape and there is evidence that it was in good shape before but along the line, something happened.
“So, I suggest that football pitches across the country be exclusively used for those things that they are meant for and not to be subjected to other events that could destroy the turf.
“Invariably, what I am suggesting is that, state governments should not subject sports facilities to other events such as marriage, wedding, Carnival, cultural events and so on.”