A new Lugogo
Oct 01, 2008
Lugogo Indoor Stadium is to be refurbished and upgraded. The face lift will cost sh700m and the facility will be renamed the MTN Indoor stadium.
By Swalley Kenyi
Lugogo Indoor Stadium is to be refurbished and upgraded. The face lift will cost sh700m and the facility will be renamed the MTN Indoor stadium.
According to the MTN Foundation trustee Noel Meier, the indoor stadium will be upgraded in order to produce the next generation of superstars.
“MTN Foundation has partnered with NCS to ensure that our sports facilities are in good shape to produce the next John Akii Bua, Phillip Omondi and John Mugabi,†Meier told the guests who attended the launch of the project yesterday.
Akii Bua is a legendary 400m hurdles Olympic gold medalist. Mugabi's name was engraved in the record books for winning an Olympic silver and a Word Boxing Council title while Omondi was top scorer in the 1978 African Cup of Nations finals in Ghana.
Meier, who is also the MTN Uganda chief executive, added: “Sport is becoming a profession. It is a multi-million dollar industry which Uganda must well be positioned to take advantage of.â€
The sh700m project was launched yesterday at a press conference addressed by the state minister for sports Charles Bakkabulindi.
MTN and National Council of Sports in June reached an agreement that has effectively renamed the facility MTN Indoor Stadium until 2018.
The rehabilitation work on the indoor stadium that was built in the 1950s begins early next year.
It will include refurbishing both the interior and exterior of the dilapidated roof, windows, drainage, installing a computerised scoreboard and repairing the floor which will all be branded in MTN colours.
The Lugogo facility can host boxing, volleyball, netball, basketball, badminton and hockey plus other games and social and religious events.
Bakkabulindi inaugurated a four-member building committee that will oversee the construction and challenged them to ensure that the artistic impression of the modern stadium is achieved.
Chaired by Oscar Ssemweya, the committee also has MTN's Aggrey Kagonyera, Moses Kagondoki and Joseph Jjagwe.
“We are not only going to stop at giving out the money. There are strings attached and we shall ensure good work is done," Meier added.
Asked if the deal would not keep away other companies from sponsoring activities in the stadium, Bakkabulindi urged other companies to also take up other sports grounds and help improve them instead.
Lugogo Indoor Stadium is to be refurbished and upgraded. The face lift will cost sh700m and the facility will be renamed the MTN Indoor stadium.
According to the MTN Foundation trustee Noel Meier, the indoor stadium will be upgraded in order to produce the next generation of superstars.
“MTN Foundation has partnered with NCS to ensure that our sports facilities are in good shape to produce the next John Akii Bua, Phillip Omondi and John Mugabi,†Meier told the guests who attended the launch of the project yesterday.
Akii Bua is a legendary 400m hurdles Olympic gold medalist. Mugabi's name was engraved in the record books for winning an Olympic silver and a Word Boxing Council title while Omondi was top scorer in the 1978 African Cup of Nations finals in Ghana.
Meier, who is also the MTN Uganda chief executive, added: “Sport is becoming a profession. It is a multi-million dollar industry which Uganda must well be positioned to take advantage of.â€
The sh700m project was launched yesterday at a press conference addressed by the state minister for sports Charles Bakkabulindi.
MTN and National Council of Sports in June reached an agreement that has effectively renamed the facility MTN Indoor Stadium until 2018.
The rehabilitation work on the indoor stadium that was built in the 1950s begins early next year.
It will include refurbishing both the interior and exterior of the dilapidated roof, windows, drainage, installing a computerised scoreboard and repairing the floor which will all be branded in MTN colours.
The Lugogo facility can host boxing, volleyball, netball, basketball, badminton and hockey plus other games and social and religious events.
Bakkabulindi inaugurated a four-member building committee that will oversee the construction and challenged them to ensure that the artistic impression of the modern stadium is achieved.
Chaired by Oscar Ssemweya, the committee also has MTN's Aggrey Kagonyera, Moses Kagondoki and Joseph Jjagwe.
“We are not only going to stop at giving out the money. There are strings attached and we shall ensure good work is done," Meier added.
Asked if the deal would not keep away other companies from sponsoring activities in the stadium, Bakkabulindi urged other companies to also take up other sports grounds and help improve them instead.