Banda Aceh (Indonesia): A maze of drainage ditches, water pipes and mounds of dirt crisscross the pitch at Banda Aceh’s Lampineung Stadium, home of the Persiraja Football Club.

The stands are mostly stacks of warped boards, which dozens of construction workers are removing in preparation for a major renovation.

Soccer’s international governing body (Fifa) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are financing repairs to the facilities in preparation for the team’s return to the Indonesian first division for the first time since last year’s undersea quake, tsunami and subsequent relief operations devastated the site.

“We have to thank Fifa for helping us in our time of need,” said Burhanudin Amin, a Persiraja official supervising the works on the monsoon-drenched stadium. “Without them, this club would have died in the tsunami.”

The 15,000-seat Lampineung Stadium was badly damaged by the earthquake that struck a year ago. The huge wave that spread across the provincial capital also washed over the field, leaving only the forlorn-looking goalposts standing.

Spanish and other foreign troops, who arrived a few days later with heavy equipment to help with rescue and relief operations, further damaged the site. They bivouacked at the stadium, setting up makeshift warehouses for humanitarian supplies on the pitch.

As the rescue effort gradually wound down, Fifa and the AFC launched a $10.5 m tsunami solidarity fund for soccer infrastructure reconstruction in the affected areas. (AP)