By Bida Elly David
The South Sudan Football Association has started certification of the new-faced Juba National Football Stadium that’s being transformed through FIFA grant aimed at pushing it to meet international standard.
The certification process started earlier this week following the visit of an expert contracted by the Federation of the International Football Association (FIFA) to inspect and monitor the level and the stage of the stadium as far as its construction and renovation was concerned.
In a statement seen by No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday from SSFA Facebook page, the certification was headed by Augustino Maduot, the President of South Sudan football Association at Juba National Stadium through the Federation of International Football Association.
FIFA is a global governing body of world football association that oversees international competition among the countries internationally.
They play a bigger role to ensure that countries participating in football deeds should reach global standards through qualified football pitches as well as sports activities.
Juba National Stadium before its renovation had been impacted by number of drawbacks that challenged them to meet international level due to its structure and the architectural design as well as its size.
This inspection and certification were done in a bid to meet the completion timeline so that the national teams do not have to host their home matches outside the country anymore.
According to FIFA, for a stadium to reach or qualify to an international standards where football tournaments can be hosted in, it must have a capacity of at least Forty thousand (40,000) and stadiums hosting quarter finals must have a minimum of Sixty Thousand (60,000) while those hosting the opening ceremony or final must have the capacity of at least Eighty Thousand (80,000) seats
Through the certification process, FIFA is yet to determine whether Juba National Football Stadium would meet the international FIFA standard which will be determined from the analysis of the inspection next delegation.
Speaking during the inspection Mr. Anthony Apparailly, the monitoring contracted expert by FIFA was very pleased and contented with the current picture and level of the stadium and said that the move was positive.
He further noted that the structure of the stadium was very okay and determined as well as reiterated need for the next inspection delegation from FIFA to recommend on the other utilities.
“Today evening, an expert, Mr. Anthony Apparailly, contracted by FIFA arrived at Juba National Stadium to inspect and certify the artificial turf installed. During the inspection, Mr. Anthony expressed his satisfaction with what has already been done, awaiting feedback from FIFA and a team of other experts to come and inspect other utilities” a statement from SSFA read.
The national FA said under the leadership of President Augustino, around 60% value has been added to the initial 30% value at the beginning of the renovation,
They added that what is remaining is the completion of the septic tank, installation of floodlights, giant screens, and paintwork around the perimeter, which is almost done.