Central African Republic: Barthélémy Boganda Stadium renovation hampered by lack of funds
The Barthélémy Boganda Stadium, home of the Central African national team, has too small a budget for a full refurbishment
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No longer up to CAF and FIFA standards for four years, the Barthélémy Boganda Stadium has not hosted a single Bamaras match since. "It is very damaging for our clubs and our national teams, and more broadly for the development of football in the country", Célestin Yanindji tells Sport News Africa.
That damage was evident in the latest Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, in which the Central Africans again missed out by the narrowest of margins without once playing at home. It is one of the priorities of the football federation, as well as of the new sports minister, Rodolphe Héritier Doneng. On 15 April, work duly began after several contracts were signed and the state released 400 million CFA francs for a "partial refurbishment" of the ground.
The sports minister launches a new initiative to raise funds
On Tuesday 25 June, a CAF official in charge of stadium inspections, the Central African Fada Kendi Averel, toured the sports complex with the federation president and the sports minister. The minister also handed over equipment for the officials' offices and the dressing rooms (chairs, fridges, massage tables, televisions, fans and more).
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A welcome gesture, though not enough to win CAF's green light for full compliance with standards. "The refurbishment budget is very insufficient", says Yanindji, who told the local press that roughly four times as much money would be needed. "The current sports minister is showing a great deal of determination and he is going to launch a new initiative to raise additional resources from the state and the private sector."
The state refused to hand over ownership of the stadium to the federation
If the state budget was bound to be limited, could the federation not have turned to FIFA for funds earmarked for renovating the Barthélémy Boganda Stadium? "We had asked the state to transfer ownership of the stadium to us so that we could use FIFA funds to carry out the work ", Yanindji confirms. "That option was not approved by the owner. So we are supporting the sports minister in his advocacy efforts."
While the sports minister initially hoped the ground would reopen up to standard in December, a first assessment of progress on the works is scheduled for September.