Limba Mupetami

WindhoekOfficials from the ministry of sport have called on public and private corporate entities to donate money to the rehabilitation of the Independence Stadium in Windhoek.Government has so far availed N$50 million for the upgrade, however, a further N$48 million is required to upgrade the stadium which currently has a sitting capacity of 25 000 and needs to be upgraded to a 45 000 sitting capacity.

Speaking during a stakeholder engagement on Friday, the ministry’s executive director Audrin Mathe said since the stadium was built, it was not fit to host international events.

He said the almost N$100 million-dollar renovations need to be done in accordance with International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) and Confederation of African Football (CAF) requirements so that it can host international matches, among other things.

Upgrades

He explained that the stadium has never had individual seats, meaning that people sit on benches made of concrete. This is not allowed by Fifa.

“We are trying to comply with Fifa and CAF requirements. People should not sit on a block of concrete, and the VIP area is too small, it should be made bigger.

“The media room also needs to be upgraded,” Mathe said.

Meanwhile, the entrance into the stadium is currently 2.2 metres high, while CAF requires it to be 4.4 m high.

He added that the media and VIP entrances also need to be separated.

This while the number of lights needs to be upgraded as well as the pitch.

‘‘Whether or not we get to host the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), the stadium still needs to be upgraded, so we are not doing this for Afcon,” Mathe added.

So far, Imms Mulunga, the managing director of the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia and chairperson of the Chief Executives Forum, has pledged N$1 million to the renovations.