Sunshine Stars request for approval to return to the Akure Township Stadium for its home matches was declined by the League Management Company (LMC).

In a letter to the club dated January 13, the LMC acknowledged steps taken by Sunshine Stars to renovate the changing rooms of the home and away teams as well as that of Match Officials but noted that the real work is in replacing the playing turf.

“We are delighted with the amount of work done as you reported on the dressing rooms – home, away, and match officials. And also repairs of sections of the perimeter fence.

“We also note that Ondo State Government has started the process of approval for the total refurbishment and upgrade of the Stadium”, the LMC said in the letter signed by Salihu Abubakar, the Chief Operating Officer.

In declining to accede to the request of the club, the LMC wrote, “However, we refer you to our letter once again and reiterate that the primary concern is for the synthetic pitch to be replaced having been completely damaged by overuse.

“You will also recall that we received a firm commitment from your Honourable Commissioner of Sports that the pitch will be replaced last year which made us to grant conditional approval for Sunshine Stars to use the stadium for last season.

“We are therefore unable to grant your request for clearance to play Sunshine Stars matches at Akure until the synthetic pitch is replaced”.

Sunshine Stars will thus continue to play its home fixtures at the Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu Ode.