The Antoinette Tubman Stadium (frequently abbreviated ATS Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Monrovia, Liberia. It is used mostly for football matches although it has also been used for music concerts, major church events, political rallies and Ebola treatment. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators [1] and is the oldest stadium in Liberia.[2]
Background
Before being constructed, in its location situated at the junction of the United Nations Drive and Lynch Street, a sports pitch with a dilapidated wooden shelter, previously used by sports fans[3] for recreational purposes, already existed. Therefore, no later than 1952,[1] then president William Tubman built in the same spot a stadium and named it after his wife Mrs. Antoinette Tubman.[4]
Antoinette Tubman Stadium has been the site of various True Whig Party conventions, especially during the presidency of William Tubman,[6][7] as well as other major political events and rallies most recently being the "One-Million-Man March" rally[8] organised by the
Congress for Democratic Change and president George Weah marking his renomination to race in the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.[9]
Antoinette Tubman Stadium has also been known to be utilized as a venue for several concerts and music festivals performed by mostly afrobeats, afropop and hip-hop artists and bands like Wizkid,[10]Davido[11] or Kcee[12] etc.
Also major church days and religious events are frequently held on Antoinette Tubman Stadium like the commemoration of 500 years of Reformation organized by the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) in 2017[13] or Liberian Muslims gathering and performing Eid al-Adha prayers in 2018.[14]
In 2014 during the Ebola virus epidemic Antoinette Tubman Stadium was converted into an Ebola treatment unit.[15]
Renovations
Antoinette Tubman Stadium is equipped with an artificial grass surface since 2001, the artificial allweather pitch being financially funded by FIFA through their "Goal programme".[16] In 2022 the stadium was refurbished again with the financial support from FIFA, this time LFA being etitled to "FIFA Forward Programme" funds for the 2019-2022 cycle. The renovation project included the re-roofing of the ATS stadium, the installation of a new electronic board, new floodlights system[17] and complete restoration of the LFA headquarters in the SKD Boulevard community.[18]
^West Africa (magazine), ed. West Africa Publishing Company Ltd., London, UK, august 2000, pag. 41
^A. Doris Banks Henries, The Liberian Nation: A Short History, ed. H. Jaffe, 1954, pag. 167
^A. Doris Banks Henries, A Biography of President William V. S. Tubman, ed. Macmillan, 1968, pag. 74
^Joseph Njoh, Liberia: The Path to War, ed. Spectrum Books Limited, 2007, pag. 159
^For ex. the convention from 23rd of January 1959 - William V. S. Tubman, President Tubman of Liberia Speaks, pub. Consolidated Publications Company, vol 1, 1959, pag. 286
^Or the convention from 7th of February 1963 where he was nominated as a presidential candidate for a fifth term - United States. Central Intelligence Agency, Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts, issues 27-28, 1963, pag. 151
^The FIFA Goal programme began in 1999 and aimed to promote football projects and development work in the world's most vulnerable countries - Holly Collison, Youth and Sport for Development: The Seduction of Football in Liberia, ed. Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 2016, pag. 16
