The Mandela National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

. It is named after the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

n then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and anti-apartheid icon,

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

. The stadium's record attendance of 50,000 was set in 2004, in a football match between the national football teams of Uganda and South Africa.

Location

The stadium is located on Namboole Hill in Bweyogerere Ward, Kira Municipality,

Wakiso District Wakiso District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda that partly encircles Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The town of Wakiso is the site of the district headquarters. Kira, the country's second largest city and suburb of Kampala, is ...

. The stadium is approximately , by road, east of the central business district of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and R ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city.

Overview

Mandela National Stadium is mainly used for

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches, although other sports such as

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

are also practised. The stadium has a seating capacity of 45,202. The stadium is home to the

Uganda national football team The Uganda national football team (nicknamed ''The Cranes''), represents Uganda in men's international football and is controlled by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations, which is a part of CAF. Their best finish in the Africa Cup of ...

, known as the Uganda Cranes. A committee of the Ugandan parliament reported in 2015 that the stadium was on the verge of financial collapse, claiming that the stadium had suffered from more than a decade of "mismanagement and wanton abuse" and incurred losses totaling UGX:3.6 billion. Running the stadium profitably in a private-public partnership arrangement remains a challenge.

History

The stadium was built with a grant of US$36 million from the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

(PRC). Originally it was called Namboole Stadium, getting its name from the hill on which it was built. It is now officially called Mandela National Stadium, named after the former South African president,

. It was opened in 1997 with a concert by

Lucky Dube Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced ''duu-beh'';
luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007 3 August 1964 – 18 October 20 ...

, a reggae artist from South Africa. The stadium was refurbished in 2010–11, with a US$2.8 million grant from the PRC.

References

Kira Town Multi-purpose stadiums in Uganda Sport in Kampala Buildings and structures in Kampala Chinese aid to Africa Sports venues completed in 1997 1997 establishments in Uganda

Location

Overview

History

See also

References

External links