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Sports Infrastructure: What Hope for the Future ? (19.04.2006)
Last week, a member of the Security Commission of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, was in Cameroon to inspect playgrounds which could be used for CAF competitions, as well as hotels where visiting delegations can be lodged. Although the CAF envoy, Souleymanou Magassouba, didn’t make any public declarations, many Cameroonians can imagine the content of his confidential report to the President of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou.
In effect, the situation of sports infrastructure in Cameroon is deplorable. No discipline can boast a standard playground, not even football which has propelled Cameroon to international glory. Any visitor to Cameroon would be shocked at the state of the football stadiums in the homeland of the lions. The situation of sports facilities is a direct contrast to the popularity of Cameroon’s national football team and world football legends such as Eto’o Fils, Roger Milla, Patrick Mboma… The lack of adequate sports infrastructure is one of the main reasons why Cameroon, despite its glories at the continental and global scene, cannot bid to host a major competition, such as the African Cup of Nations or the All Africa Games.
The Yaounde Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium, built to host the 1972 African Cup of Nations, is out-dated. The most basic facilities of a modern stadium, such as a good turf, a press tribune, a score board, etc, are still absent. More than once, the stadium has been renovated. Millions have been buried in the old Mfandena facility but nothing much has changed. The playground that was refurbished last year is still not up to standard. The seats in the VIP tribune, that were replaced last year, are already plucking off. In the coming days, it will be the turn of the Japanese to do what the can to bring the old "Mfandena lady" up to date.
The condition of the Bepanda Omnisport stadium in Douala, inaugurated on the eve of the Nations Cup in 1972, is even worse. The dressing rooms at the Doula reunification stadium are in an advanced state of dilapidation. Many visitors find it hard to believe that official matches are still played on the pitch full of potholes. Players of the Orlando Pirates from South Africa who, in 2004, spent over a week in Douala waiting for water to dry off the pitch, can better tell the story. The said match was transferred to Garoua but never played because the South Africans got fed up and boarded their plane back home.
In effect, the Roumde-Adjia stadium of Garoua, that went operational in 1980, can be considered one of the best in the country. The ascension of Coton Sport Garoua to Division I led to the replacement of the synthetic turf with natural grass. In 1997,
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several other facilities of the stadium, such as the dressing rooms, dormitories, reporters booth, etc, were refurbished with a subvention from the State. However, a lot still needs to be done to complete the structure, modernise the athletics tract and secure the stadium. The population would also love to see all the annex facilities of the sports complex, such as basketball, handball, volleyball pitches and swimming pools, built.
The Bafoussam Omnisport stadium that never was, is the greatest deception in the domain of sports infrastructure in Cameroon. Construction began after the 1972 Nations Cup in Cameroon, but was abandoned. Today, it is farmland for some households and playground for amateurs. The question is: what can be done to remedy the situation? How do other African countries, such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria succeed to have several world class stadiums? Thanks to partnership with China, Senegal, for example, will construct 11 stadiums in two years.
The Cameroonian Government, through the help of donor countries, has over the years worked to maintain the existing infrastructure. Focus has been on the Yaounde Omnisport Stadium. In the coming days, however, new sports facilities might see the light of day in Yaounde. In collaboration with the Chinese, a sports complex with a capacity of 5,000 seats, is already under construction in yaounde. To go by the declarations of the Minister of Sports and Physical Education to the magazine, Nyanga, Yaounde might soon have another Omnisport stadium. The Sports boss said he has received instructions from the Head of State to carry out studies in view of the construction of a second Omnisport stadium in Yaounde. The Confedertaion of African Football also has plans of contructing a sports complex in the environs of Yaounde.
Some government structures are also working to resolve the infrastructure nightmare. The example of the Presidential Guard and BEAC is laudable. BEAC has a sports complex in the Mvan neighbourhood which is most often used by the Lions for training when they are camping in Yaounde. The Presidential Guard, on the other hand, also has a sports complex in the Melen neighbourhood comprising three tennis courts, two football pitches, a multisports pitch (handball, volleyball, basketball), dressing rooms, offices and dormitories.
The wish is that such examples be copied by other public and parapublic structures for the benefit of sportsmen in Cameroon. Sports federations should also go out for sponsors who can build infrastructures. The government should also take its responsibility and work for the building of world class sports facilities in the country. Cameroonians need them.
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