INTERNATIONAL: Fresh off the national team's victory in the Africa Cup of Nations this month, Senegal on Tuesday inaugurated a new 50,000-seat stadium at a ceremony attended by African and European heads of state and global sporting dignitaries.
The Turkish-built Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Senegal's new showpiece city of Diamniadio is part of a drive-by President Macky Sall to develop the West African country's infrastructure.
The stadium, which will host the Summer Youth Olympics in 2026, was filled with fans waving Senegal's green, yellow and red flags.
Also, in attendance were the presidents of Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Rwanda, Turkey, and Germany as well as Gianni Infantino, the president of world soccer governing body FIFA, and African soccer greats Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o.
"It is in this beautiful den that our valiant lions will celebrate their conquest of Africa and the world," Sall told the crowd.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, said. “We are proud to be able to be here with you today to inaugurate this magnificent stadium, it’s the first time we are in this stadium, it’s certainly not the last time, we are going to organise the best tournaments in the world here, this stadium is made for world cups.”
Senegal President Macky Sall said. “With his kind approval, I decided to name the stadium after my predecessor, President Abdoulaye Wade, a homage to his multidimensional career as an intellectual, pan-Africanist, politician and former President of the Republic of Senegal.”
National pride is high after Senegal, led by Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, claimed their first Africa Cup of Nations title by defeating Egypt on Feb. 6 in Cameroon.
The stadium, named after former president Abdoulaye Wade, whom Sall defeated in a bitterly contested 2012 election, is Senegal's latest high-profile infrastructure project.
A basketball arena across the street from the stadium was completed in 2018, and a $1.3 billion commuter railway was inaugurated in December.
Sall's opponents, however, have questioned whether these projects will benefit average citizens as much as they do Senegal's tiny elite.
