Somhlolo Phase II finishes next month
MBABANE – The rehabilitation of the Somhlolo National Stadium, which is in Phase II is projected to be completed at the end of April.
The national arena is currently being renovated to meet the Confederation of African Football (CAF) standards after it was banned in 2019 from hosting international category ‘A’ games. This forced the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) to seek alternative venues to host home games for the national team, Sihlangu. Even local teams representing the country in CAF games, once reaching the knock out stages; they are forced to search for alternative stadiums to host home games outside the borders of the country.
According to information from the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, the contractor assigned to the rehabilitation works are about to finish the construction of the boundary wall, which will be installed with top of the range gates and this exercise is projected to be completed by end of the coming month.
“The contractor is about to finish the construction of the walls around the stadium and the turnstile gates; the anticipated finish time was end of April, but due to bad weather conditions, we might experience delays,” reads part of the correspondence from the ministry.
The ministry also revealed that the contractor was fencing the demarcated area for VIPs inside the stadium and once this was done, they would then move to the next phase. It is worth mentioning that the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has once again failed to allocate funds for the construction of a new stadium. To construct a top of the range stadium, the government should budget over E1 billion.