Africa-Press – Lesotho. Contractors at Setsoto Stadium are facing a race against time to complete renovations for the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games to be held in Maseru in December.
The games will be held from December 3 to 12 and work at the national stadium is being done by CK Industries, a South African company that is an agent for CONICA AG, a sports facility developer from Switzerland.
The contractors have already removed Setsoto’s old running track and will be installing a new track system for December’s regional games. The contractors say they are onsite every day of the week, and although they admitted they are on a tight schedule, they are confident of meeting December’s deadline.
Maqalika Matsepe, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Sport, said the removal of the artificial turf on Setsoto’s football pitch should start soon. However, time is short. It took the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) about three months to complete the installation of an artificial turf at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena.
If the same work is to be done at the national stadium, it would have to be done at a lightning speed in order for the facilities to be ready for the AUSC games in December.
Besides the installation of the running track and fixing the water system, Matsepe would not say whether Setsoto’s dressing rooms would be fixed and whether renovations are being done in line with recommendations from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
In recent weeks, the Minister of Sports, Likeleli Tampane, confirmed on Radio Lesotho that Lesotho will continue with the AUSC games as scheduled. She also revealed the disappointment from the AUSC regional Troika of Ministries over how Lesotho is preparing for December’s games.
It is not just Setsoto that will undergo renovations, the national tennis courts are also expected to be refurbished but most of the work will be at the stadium.
The work means Setsoto is not available for football matches until after the AUSC games, so when league football resumes there will be no games played there.
In June, CAF fined Lesotho US$4 000, roughly M55 000, for the lack of proper technical facilities at Setsoto Stadium, a fine that LEFA said the ministry has already paid. The fine was related to the substandard state of the national stadium.
CAF said Setsoto has a poor artificial turf that needs replacing, inadequate team and official’s benches, as well as dressing rooms that are not up to the required “international and modern standards.”
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