South Sudan Sports Infrastructure Push Backed by Qatar Support

With the civil war going on in Sudan between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, sports infrastructure plays a very significant role in providing some relief to its citizens.

The president of the South Sudan National Committee, Chuol Pai Gai, has announced that the Qatari investors have promised to build their first athletic track within the next 18 months. International collaboration and fundraising have been reinstated by the committee’s new administration, whereby a substantial sum of $100,000 USD has already been raised to form an organised headquarters for the committee's efficient cooperation.

The committee has announced that a sports facility will be constructed at Hai Thajaria, for which funding has already been reserved from the Qatari counterpart of the Safer Ty presidents' recent visit to Doha.

Discussions are still ongoing with the governor of Central Equatoria regarding the potential site for the sports facility, for which 2 to 3 sites have been shortlisted.The sports infrastructural preparations are being made ahead of the youth games of South Sudan, scheduled to be held in Senegal. President Chuol also highlighted the presence of 7 South Sudanese athletes being trained in Qatar, signalling the strong friendship between the countries. He highlighted the lack of basic sports infrastructure as the cause of low athlete turnout; thereby, quality training centres become the prerequisite for nurturing the budding athletes.

With South African countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya gearing up their sports infrastructure to co-host the AFCON 2027, it becomes all the more important for Sudan to pace up in forming its image in the global field of sports development after the recent CAF report highlighting the requirements for the event.