E2.5BN FOR NEW STADIUM

MBABANE – With Eswatini among 23 African nations lacking a venue for category A international football matches, there are plans for a multibillion stadium, if funds will be available.  

Currently, Somhlolo National Stadium and Mavuso Sports Centre, which were the only venues that had been used to host international games, are banned as they do not meet FIFA or Confederation of African Football (CAF) standards. Eswatini relies on South Africa (SA) to host CAF category A games. This past Tuesday, Sihlangu hosted Cape Verde at Mbombela Stadium in an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier.

revelation

The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs has revealed its responses to submissions made by legislators in Parliament on the issue of the stadium. The ministry submitted to Parliament almost a fortnight ago that there were plans to construct a new stadium worth over E2.5 billion. The ministry made this revelation during the debate of the ministry’s portfolio committee’s report. “The ministry continues to engage government through the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Planning on the possibility to construct a new stadium which has an estimated cost of over E2.5 billion. Efforts were also made by government to scout possible funding for a new stadium, but was not successful,” states the report. In the list of responses, the ministry also disclosed that it will persist on rehabilitating Somhlolo National Stadium with the available budget allocation, hoping that it will eventually meet the required standard set by FIFA or CAF. In the year under review, the stadium was allocated E15 million yet it does not have an allocation for the 2023/2024 financial year. Earlier on, the ministry has estimated that the refurbishment expenditure by month end may be at E94 771 000.

emphasised

The ministry further emphasised on the need of constructing a new sports stadium even if the upgrading of Somhlolo National Stadium meets the international standards. It said a new stadium may assist in hosting other tournaments which need more than one venue. The ministry went on to mention that efforts to scout for possible funding for the new stadium had been unsuccessful in past. Worth noting is that, government had hoped to construct a new stadium through Public Private Partnership (PPP) which has not yielded positive results to the present day. It is worth mentioning that some of the stadiums that cost around, the ministry’s, E2.5 billion budget include among others SA’s FNB Stadium. The FNB Stadium was constructed in 1986 to 1989 and was renovated in the advent of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is a 94 000-seater and costs around E3.3 billion. Furthermore, the ministry provided an update pertaining to Qatar’s Stadium 974. There had been reports earlier this year that Eswatini was likely to inherit it. “There was no official communication by Qatar Government to Eswatini on such an issue. The ministry will follow-up on the matter and bring a factual report on a later date,” states the report. Finally, the reports revealed the ministry’s long term plan of having one major stadium in each of the four regions of the country.

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