Stade Général Seyni Kountché (SGSK)Forum Social Africain: Niamey 2008 organizing committee, Methodology
. is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. Used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches, it is home to the Niger national football team, as well as Niger Premier League clubs Sahel SC, Olympic FC de Niamey, Zumunta AC and JS du Ténéré, as well as club competitions such as the

Niger Cup The Niger Cup ''(Coupe nationale du Niger)'' is the national football competition, on a knock-out-basis in Niger. It was founded in 1974. The most successful club is Sahel SC, Sahel with 12 titles. Niger Cup Finals Performance by club Referen ...

. The venue is also sometimes used for rugby union. It is the largest stadium in Niamey, followed by the 10,000-capacity Stade municipal.

Overview

The stadium hosts both international athletics tournaments, and the finals of national athletics competitions. The stadium has an announced capacity of 35,000 people. It was named for the 1974-1987 military

President of Niger This is a list of heads of state of Niger since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. A total of eleven people (not counting one acting) have served as head of state of Niger, all of them men and six of them m ...

Seyni Kountché Seyni Kountché (1 July 1931 – 10 November 1987) was a Nigerien military officer who led a 1974 Nigerien coup d'état, 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first Heads of State of Niger, president, Hamani Diori. He ruled th ...

following his death. Opened in 1989 on the site of the former Stade du 29 Juillet, it underwent a large Chinese government funded renovation and expansion into a multi-use complex in 1999. It is owned by the government of Niger, and operated by an appointed directorship and the "Council of Stadium Administration" ("''Conseil d’Administration du Stade''").

Usage

The large athletic stadium is part of a larger multiuse complex which includes the ''Palais des Sports'' 3000 seat indoor arena, the ''Academy of Martial Arts'' of 2,000 seats, as well as performance spaces, thirty meeting rooms, and athletic training facilities. The complex includes facilities for

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. It has been the centrepoint of recent large cultural and sporting events such as the 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie and the 2009 first CEN-SAD Games.PROGRAMME GENERAL DES COMPETITIONS DES 1ERS DE LA CEN SAD
. jeuxcensad.netPremière édition des Jeux de la CEN-SAD à Niamey - Sports/neuf disciplines sportives au programme
. Oumarou Moussa, le Sahel. 30 January 2009. For large events such as these, the stadium is supplemented by local facilities such as the Stade Municipal de Niamey, Centre aéré de la BCEAO, the Nigerien Football Federation training centre,

ASFAN Association Sportive des Forces Armées Nigériennes, known simply AS FAN, is a Nigerien professional football (soccer), football club based in Niamey, which is operated by the Nigerien Armed Forces (the FAN). They play at the stade du camp Baga ...

's military stadium at Bagagi Iya army base, and fields at local institutions such as lycée La Fontaine (Niamey), the sports centre at Abdou Moumouni Dioffo University, and the fields at lycée technique Issa Béri. Near the stadium complex is the Niamey Racecourse (Hippodrome de Niamey) and the Niamey traditional sports arena, home to Nigerien

Lutte Traditionnelle Lutte Traditionnelle (fr. for ''Traditional Wrestling'') is a style of West African folk wrestling, known as Laamb in Senegal and in The Gambia, Evala in Togo, and KoKowa / Kokawa in Hausa people, Hausa areas of Nigeria and Niger, or simply ''L ...

. The SGSK complex is regularly used for political events, exhibitions, and cultural activities.

References

External links

Photos
at cafe.daum.net/stade
Photos
at worldstadiums.com.

at fussballtempel.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Stade General Seyni Kountche Football venues in Niger

Buildings and structures in Niamey Athletics (track and field) venues in Niger Indoor arenas in Niger Multi-purpose stadiums in Niger Sport in Niamey Chinese aid to Africa 1989 establishments in Niger Sports venues completed in 1989

Overview

Usage

References

See also

External links