When the Sub Pitch Falls, What Will be Left of UI Sports?

By: Mahbubat Salahudeen

One of the most significant events that occurred in the world of student athleticism in 2025 was the unveiling of a 2025–2029 ‘strategic plan’ by U Sports. The plan outlined a bold vision to elevate Canadian university sport through enhanced national championships, expanded partnerships, and a strengthened student-athlete experience. This vision is fundamental, not just because of its commitment to the enhancement of youth sports in Canadian colleges, but because it involved consultations with a dedicated group of student-athletes and coaches in shaping the plan—ensuring their voices and experiences helped guide the organization’s future direction.

On the contrary, the University of Ibadan remains poised to the recurring phenomenon of the downwash of student sports—in representation, tournaments, facilities, and a whole list of whatnot. In a university that prides itself on producing leaders in academics, the same energy is rarely extended to nurturing athletic talent. Despite the slogans, the trophies, and the memories, the hard truth remains: UI invests too little in the development of sports.

Sports is one of the unique lenses through which the story of a community is told. And while sport activities exist in this citadel of learning, over time, academics has received more precedence, much to the detriment of sport stakeholders, especially student-athletes.

How It All Began

The concept of sports being an afterthought can be traced way back to over a decade ago in 2012. Unknown to many, what is now the geographical positioning of the infamous Economics Building used to be a standard sport centre with notable facilities—home to a range of activities by student-athletes in UI. According to the Sports Secretary of the Students’ Union, Victor Kolawole, prior to the demolition of the sports center between 2012 and 2013, the centre—which comprised a standard track, four basketball courts, and a football pitch, to mention just a few—served as a training ground for Nigerian athletes and was the standard point of every sporting activity in UI.

The justification for the demolition act was supposedly due to noise pollution caused by sports activities, especially at the centre of the learning community. Even before this revelation, the University of Ibadan possesses a history of demolition—or rather, deforestation—in a bid for infrastructural development, such as the case of the renowned Heritage Park characterized by the cutting of ancestral trees, which shook the student community to its core. The phenomenon is very much in play and nowhere is this more evident than in the fate of the “SUB pitch.”

Over the past year, there has been a growing rumour circulating that the Faculty of Arts intends to reclaim the SUB pitch space for academic purposes. Unfortunately, this rumour isn’t empty—and this move would more likely force students to go all the way down to Awo Stadium, the mini-stadium isolated from the heart of campus life, just to witness matches that once brought vibrancy to the university’s core. A ‘pitch’ that once stood as the heartbeat of campus football has always been a makeshift and is now under threat.

Victor also relayed that situating a plot of land used as a football pitch behind the faculty was never in the university’s blueprint, and that the university intends to build a major stadium at Ajibode—a location much farther than its sister stadium. While this attempt at compensation may indicate remorse for the lack of commitment to sport, the years of neglect still have unmitigated consequences. Demolition in a particular area and planning infrastructural development—for over 13 years—in another, does not compensate for the initial demolition.

But Football Isn’t The Only Sport Suffering

For athletes in track and field, basketball, and other disciplines, opportunities for competition have become painfully scarce. Apart from the occasional Inter-Hall or Inter-Faculty tournament, few avenues exist for these athletes to sharpen their skills or even dream of representing the university at major events. Talent that could blossom into national pride is instead quietly stifled in distant courts at Awo Stadium and dusty, forgotten fields at SUB.

This neglect came into sharp focus during the FASU (Federation of African University Sports) trials held at the University of Jos in April. Ten athletes who represented the university reported facing hardship that is nothing short of disgraceful. Despite being ambassadors of the institution, they had their allowances delayed for three days—an administrative failure that left many eating just once a day ahead of and during a high-performance competition.

When AFAS Press reached out to some of the athletes who participated in the trials, three of them refused to comment, perhaps fearful of reprisal or simply resigned to the status quo. Only one agreed to speak under strict anonymity.

“We were promised forty-five thousand Naira for each athlete,” the source revealed. “Unfortunately, the school has not provided us—both staff and students—with any allowance yet.”

The source also stressed that opportunities to represent the institution may seem like proud moments, only to be left “stranded, hungry, and questioning why you even bothered.”

This is a damning reflection of the realities of student-athletes in UI. Sports are not a distraction from academics—they are an integral part of the holistic development UI claims to champion. Wins can be achieved in many ways beyond academics, and sports can be vital too.

Will This Session Be Different?

There have been whispers of change: a proposed revamp of sporting facilities, talks of investing in other sports beyond football, and promises from student leaders to prioritize athlete welfare. Yet, students have heard these promises before. Until concrete actions are taken—new facilities, timely allowances, genuine support for a broad range of sports—they remain just that: whispers.

For a university that once had sports at the centre of its identity, UI’s current approach to sports feels like a betrayal. If the SUB pitch truly falls to Faculty of Arts reclamation, if allowances continue to trickle in only after athletes have suffered, if non-football sports remain sidelined—then the decline will not just continue. It will deepen.

The University of Ibadan must decide: will it continue to treat sports as an afterthought? Or it will recognize that on the field, as in the classroom, greatness must be nurtured, not neglected?