Rehabilitation work gets underway at stadium

The country's only stadium, the Independence Stadium in Bakau, is currently undergoing facelift.

Pointsport visited the country's biggest football arena to find out how work is progressing there.

Ebou Njie, the Technical Manager of the stadium told this reporter that the Independence Stadium cannot host international matches, which is why the government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Youth and Sports deemed it necessary to equip it to international standards within the next three months.

The rehabilitation work, which is one week old, Njie added, is entirely taken care of by the government and is hopeful that it will be successfully completed.

Other facilities like toilets, according to Njie, who was appointed as the Technical Manager of the stadium 15 years ago, is expected to be done by Gamworks.

This is the second biggest rehabilitation of the Independence Stadium following a similar rehabilitation work when the country was about to host the 2005 African U-17 Junior Championship in Banjul five years ago.

And if this latest development is any thing to go by, then the dilapidated condition of the country's only stadium would soon be a thing of the past.

The poor condition of the stadium came under threat when the world football governing body FIFA warned Banjul about the dilapidated condition of the country's biggest football arena sometime last year.

This latest and wonderful initiative by the government of The Gambia will help The Gambia host as many international matches as possible, including the upcoming qualifiers of the African Nations and World Cup.