The government of Senegal has launched construction of a new 50,000-capacity stadium in Diamniadio in the West African country. Senegalese President Macky Sall who performed the launch ceremony said the stadium is destined to stage events at the 2022 Youth Olympic Games.
The West African nation will host the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Games in its capital Dakar, the new city of Diamniadio and the coastal resort of Saly. The stadium will be located a few hundred metres from the new Dakar Arena, another Summa project. It will comprise a football pitch in line with FIFA norms, two training areas and an athletics track.
The project will cost US $258m and Turkish company Summa is the project contractor. “This future temple of sport will contribute towards making this city of Diamniadio an African and a global reference-point,” said Mamadou Ndiaye, the President of the Senegalese National Olympic Committee.
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2022 Youth Olympic Games
Dates for the first Olympic games event to take place in Africa, were recently confirmed as October 22 to November 9. The games were initially scheduled to take place in either May or June but rescheduled due to concerns that the dates would clash with the school curriculum.
The choice of Senegal followed a unanimous vote by the IOC earlier this year during the Winter Olympics in South Korea’s Pyeongchang to award the Youth Games to the African continent. “It is time for Africa. Africa is the home of many successful and prominent Olympic athletes. And being a continent of youth, it is only proper to have it host the Olympics,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
