The Director General of SOGIP (Public Infrastructure Management Company for the urban areas of Diamniadio and Lac Rose), Dame Mbodj, announced measures to improve the management of sports infrastructure, in particular the Abdoulaye Wade stadium.
This stadium, built at an estimated cost of 155 billion FCFA and inaugurated in February 2022, hosts few sporting events. Apart from the matches of the national A team and the finals of the Senegal Cup, only a few rare matches, such as the one between AS Pikine and Guédiawaye FC during the 19th day of the Ligue 1 championship, have taken place. The stadium thus remains closed for a large part of the year, limiting SOGIP’s efforts to make this world-class investment, with a capacity of 50,000 seats, profitable, reports Wiwsports.
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To address this situation, Director General Dame Mbodj announced a change in strategy during a press briefing. SOGIP plans to host more sporting events at the Diamniadio stadium, by diversifying its use. This plan includes the construction of an accommodation center to facilitate the organization of regional and international competitions.
“It is essential that the Abdoulaye Wade stadium is not only used for national team matches or Cup finals. We need to decentralize more competitions, both in Senegal and at the sub-regional level. For this, an accommodation center is necessary, allowing opposing teams to stay near the stadium before their matches,” explained Dame Mbodj.
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The Director General also plans to take advantage of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), which will be held in Dakar, to optimize the use of sports infrastructure in Diamniadio, Saly and Dakar, following the example of Solideo (Olympic Works Delivery Company) during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“We visited Paris to study how Solideo collaborated with the International Olympic Committee for the Paris Olympic Games. SOGIP’s infrastructure will be at the heart of the Youth Olympic Games. The CNOSS encouraged us to move forward with the construction of this accommodation center.”concluded Dame Mbodj.
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