Botswana National Stadium
| Botswana National Stadium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Gaborone, Botswana |
| Capacity | 22,000 |
The Botswana National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Gaborone, Botswana. It is currently used mostly for Football matches. The stadium holds 22,000 people.
The pitch is surrounded by an Athletics track, the stadium is coupled with a Rugby venue, which has fallen into disuse, and a Tennis facility.
The stadium is made up of a total of 10 stands, 3 of which are covered. The 3 large stands on each end of the stadium make up the north and south ends. The west side of the stadium is made up of 3 covered stands, while the east end is made up of 1 giant uncovered stand.
Upgrade/Renovation of the National Stadium
Hitecon construction company won the tender to renovate the stadium in November last year. The purpose for renovating the national stadium was that Botswana was to accommodate some teams which came for the 2010 FIFA World Cup competitions. The competitions were held in the neighboring country of South Africa. In 2008 the national stadium was closed for refurbishment with the hope that it would be used for 2010 World Cup as a training camp for teams participating in the World Cup.
Since its closure more than two years ago the stadium has turned into a white elephant as it cannot be used for sporting activities. The Premier League and athletics are among the codes that are most affected by the unavailability of the national stadium. The premier league teams which rely on gate taking are hard hit as often they use stadia around Gaborone which are much smaller and cannot accommodate teams with large following and make revenue collection at entrance points cumbersome and erratic.
References
External links
Coordinates: 24°39′24.48″S 25°55′58.41″E / 24.6568000°S 25.9328917°E