I WASN’T rooting for Chelsea to win the Club World Cup Quarter Final game against Palmeiras. Not me. It wasn’t just because my daughter supports every Brazilian team with the belief that Brazilian footballers are very good, using Neymar as an example, which carries some truth; but for other personal reasons.
Chelsea troubles Arsenal too much in the Premiership. And I am a Gooner! Not only Chelsea but all the other teams. Any time they play against Arsenal, they dig in deep, playing with every sense of imagination and strength, like teams possessed by a thousand demons. Playing Arsenal becomes the real contest for them and winning gives the feel of a trophy celebration. All year round, they wear the label of that win on their foreheads. Like a trophy!
I couldn’t be praying for Chelsea to win at all. But this very evening Chelsea is playing a very good game. I missed the goal scored by Cole Palmer in the 16th minute for reasons I will explain. Estevao equalised for Palmeiras early in the second half. But to my shame, Chelsea won with an own goal by goal keeper Weverton. Their quality of play makes the team a bigger threat to Arsenal in the coming season. The win over Palmeiras was not a fluke.
This evening, it was more than a game. Sitting up there in the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, my mind was on so many things – the beautiful stadium, the spectators – some of them came from outside the state of Pennsylvania, the sound system, the technology, the intimidating infrastructure – there are two other neighbouring stadia – Wells Fargo Stadium and Citizens Bank Park, the connecting roads and the underground rail system, all leading to the stadia neighbourhood. It is sheer infrastructural intimidation.
Now, I totally agree with those who introduced the idea of a FIFA Club World Cup. Although it poses a lot of challenge to the players in terms of fitness and rest in between seasons, the tournament gives the World Cup host the opportunity to test her readiness in all ramifications. The United States will host the FIFA World Cup next year, and the Lincoln Financial Field is one of the locations for the tournament.
Built between 2001 and 2003, at a cost of $512m, the Lincoln Financial Field which is located on 1020 Pattison Avenue, South Philadelphia, is owned by the city of Philadelphia. The stadium is the home of the Philadelphia Eagles who are the current Super Bowl LIX Champions; and to a lesser degree, the Temple Owls football team of Temple University. The sports edifice of 67,594 capacity held its inaugural game on August 3, 2003, a football match between Manchester United and FC Barcelona.
The Lincoln Financial Field is a complete package – sports, entertainment and telecommunications – well sorted and knitted to give an experience that is surreal and long-lasting. Since the inaugural, there has been sustained improvement on the facilities – the electronic ribbons or fascia, the HD video screens and seamless communication services. Among the equipment and service vendors are Panasonic and Verizon Wireless with its 5G technology.
The communications aspect got me hooked. The attendance that evening was 65,782. There were no call drops. Data service was top notch. Messages delivered without fail. Thousands of photographers were clicking away with their phones, and images were being delivered instantaneously to locations across the world. It was a fascinating ensemble of technologies and expertise to give spectators and visitors a complete experience devoid of inconveniences and frustrations.
After buying the Eagles in 1994, Jeffrey Lurie dreamt of building a new stadium to enhance the performance and financial returns of the team.
“Winning the Superbowl is the ultimate goal,” he said, “Stadiums and training facilities,however, are vital elements in the success and stability of franchises on both a present and long-term basis. As an organisation, you want to assemble the best staff and players, but you also have to provide them with the best facilities and environment in which to achieve success.”
The Lincoln Financial Field provides that dream environment, and Lurie has built a team of champions as the Philadelphia Eagles have won the Super Bowl twice – in 2018 and 2024. They are the current champions.
In full stream, the stadium is a major financial hub. The sports facility offers between 17,000 and 20,000 parking spots across 13 lots for most of the games and activities, and the lots can be about 80 percent full on the average. Tickets go for between $40 and $90. July 4, 2025, we got one for $30, which was probably a bonus.
The effect of the long queue of people streaming into the stadium is minimised by the availability of barcode enabled turnstiles which process tickets electronically and seamlessly, making a laborious process tolerable. But remember not to go with a big hand bag which must be deposited somewhere. Picking it up after the game is not a joke. There are two big lounges and several beverage and fastfood outlets. A bottle of water or soft drink could go for $5 but everything designed to make the spectators happy while they spend their hard-earned money.
Here is my observation. If everything is fine about the Lincoln Financial Field, the traffic leading up to the stadium in spite of the very good road infrastructure can be a nightmare. Those attending the World Cup may either go into the stadium early or take the SEPTA Broad Street Line subway to NRG station, which is the last stop. You may also want to use the various bus routes or ride-sharing services.
Having made that observation, let me state that I am writing this not to titillate anybody’s senses but to point out a few things that are possible in Nigeria. For instance telecommunications service providers can do better in providing facilities in big event environments. Any time there is a large gathering in an event centre, in church grounds or any other place for that matter, telecom services become the first victims and subscribers suffer pain and frustration. I do not know how operators do their rollout mapping and what emphasis they give to these places, but my experience at Lincoln Financial Field was different. More telecommunications investments in such environments will also mean more revenue for the operators. Just imagine the data consumption!
Our concentration on politics, which really is a behemoth of an enterprise that feeds so many undeserving mouths, has drained us of the capacity and creativity to generate other activities that coalesce in businesses and the building of a modern economy, lasting infrastructure and a civilisation that can be handed down to generations.
Everything is government related. Road infrastructure is by the government, stadium facilities are by the government – federal and states. Big stadium facilities in Abuja and Lagos, and across the states of the federation are wasting away. Nobody considers the concessioning of the wasting assets to individuals and organisations that can manage them effectively. In other parts of the world, Public Private Partnership (PPP) has grown into an acceptable practice, to attract people and organisations into contributing to building infrastructure or run facilities that can serve the public. In Nigeria, everything is politics. We don’t want so many things, including businesses, to get into the hands of the opposition. And the people suffer without end. The country is running at very low capacity and they impose a festering reasoning that we are doing well and that the story of hunger in the land is a fairy tale.
The Moshood Abiola National Stadium with a seating capacity of 60,491 was built at a cost of $360m, and completed in 2003, the same year as Lincoln Financial Field. I can’t do a comparison here but let me observe that, apart from a few sporting events, church and social activities in the past, the edifice has atrophied into disuse. All of that money seemingly wasted. But politics is booming and the drums beat with renewed vibration.
The story can be much better. The leadership of our great nation should help refocus the country by steering it away from the kind of politics that looks perennially divisive. The nation needs the inclusive type that encourages businesses and gives hope to the ordinary folks about a future that can be much better. Too much is being taken for granted and it doesn’t help to work towards the flipside of life.