Congo - Pointe-Noire: One hundred years with no sports infrastructure

Since mid-May, Pointe-Noire has been celebrating its 100 years of existence. But the economic capital of Congo-Brazzaville continues to suffer from a glaring lack of sports infrastructure. This is at least the observation of former icons of Congolese sport.

Hearty cheers: to all lords, all honors. The lord is Bernard Antoine Mouelet, known as Djo Baba. This bailiff was on Sunday, August 14, the main guest of record at the final of the Cup of the city of Pointe-Noire basketball, all categories combined.

Djo Baba is indeed this pivot of the club "Avenir du Rail" of Brazzaville. The one who, before studying law at the University of Brazzaville, was crowned best basketball player in Africa at the end of the African Cup of Champions Clubs of 1989 in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. A performance achieved despite the third place of his club in the final ranking of the tournament.

It is therefore right that he was invited to present trophies, medals and checks to the winners of the City Cup.

A competition that the departmental league of basketball has named, Cup of the centenary of the city, because this edition coincides with the celebration of the hundred years of the Congolese economic capital founded on May 11, 1922.

Private stadiums
And at the time when the entire nation of Congo celebrates the 62 years of its independence (August 15, 1960), the Congolese Federation of Basketball (FECOKET) celebrates 60 years of its existence. Sixty years of existence during which the public authorities have never built a single basketball stadium in the city.

"All the stadiums of Pointe-Noire belong to private individuals, notes to deplore it Me Mouelet. Certainly, this place belongs to the public water company, but its condition is not decent. We can say that the state has no basketball courts in Pointe-Noire.

Not just basketball that suffers from inadequacy or lack of infrastructure. "In handball, it's the same sad reality. Children only play in bad courts," Solange Ipolo Koulinka recently remarked in an interview with SNA. "There is not even an athletics track," said Bernard Antoine Mouelet.

Brazzaville, the "darling
A reality that contrasts with that of Brazzaville. "Nicole-Oba", "Henri-Elendé", Alphonse-Massamba-Débat Stadium, Concorde Stadium,... the capital of Congo-Brazzaville is, since the 2015 All-Africa Games, a veritable forest of sports facilities. It houses stadiums for different disciplines, gymnasiums, athletics tracks, etc.

And even the so-called "accelerated municipalization" programs, which consisted of building infrastructure for the independence celebrations, the first of which was organized in 2004 in Pointe-Noire, seem to have forgotten Congo-Brazzaville's second-largest city in every respect, with its approximately 1.1 million inhabitants. Even small towns are now equipped with modern infrastructure, such as Oyo (northern Congo) which has a gymnasium that meets Olympic standards.

The plea of the youths
"We in Brazzaville had state-owned land. But our compatriots have managed on makeshift facilities, while most of the sports icons came from Pointe-Noire," said Mr. Mouelet, citing former Red Devils of basketball as Zephirin Kimbouri, Omer Mouanga and Didier Bounsana.

The youth is beginning to get annoyed with this situation. The national championships should be played here in Pointe-Noire," laments Meryl Nsangou, captain of Black Lions, winner of the City Cup in senior men. But they were brought back to Brazzaville. Simply because the new regulations of FIBA do not allow both national and international competitions to be played in such conditions (including an open stadium). This has a small impact on our performance."

For Serge Koumba, captain of BBS Sport, finalist in senior men, "the authorities should think about building infrastructure in Pointe-Noire too.''