Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, announced that the units of African Union peace keeping troops in Somalia stationed at Stadium Mogadishu will withdraw from the facility by 2018.
The Prime Minister said that the time for getting the country’s National football facility Stadium Mogadishu back into use has come adding that the government will seek a full reconstruction for the facility.
“Getting stadium Mogadishu back into the hands of the people is one of our commitments to create more opportunities for the young football-loving Somalis and that will soon happen” Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre told a farewell ceremony for Jubbaland football team who won the trophy for the second edition of Somali Inter-State football tourney.
The Prime Minister briefly talked about the 2016 edition of the Inter-State tournament and encouraged Somali people that whoever tries will succeed at last using Jubbaland team as an example.
“In the inaugural event last year Jubbaland were defeated in the final. They prepared themselves, built up their team and came back with a strong team and then won the competition. This shows that if you try and try you will finally win your goals, so let us all join our forces to lead our country to a prosperous future “Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, said.
On the other hand, Somali Football Federation president, Abdiqani Said Arab, lauded for the Prime Minister’s dedication towards football progress in the country, adding that the SFF sees a brighter future now that the government plans to get troops out of Stadium Mogadishu.
“I am very delighted that our government is now arranging full construction for Stadium Mogadishu. The issue of troop withdrawals from Stadium Mogadishu was one of the main reasons for the visit of CAF president Ahmed Ahmed to Somalia in April 2017. The SFF has long been waiting for this development” the president said. “Having Stadium Mogadishu back into use will foster football development in Somalia” SFF president added.
