Two Ghanaian legends Asamoah Gyan and Osei Kuffuor were invited for the inauguration of the Diamniadio Olympic Stadium in Senegal on Tuesday, 22 February.
The inauguration of the 50,000-seat stadium welcomed some great African football legends including FECAFOOT boss, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Aristide Bance, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jonathan Pitroipa, Jay Jay Okocha and others.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and CAF President Patrice Motsepe attended the official opening ceremony of Stade de Senegal, a state of the art stadium located in Diamniadio, 30km from Dakar, presided over by President of Senegal, Macky Sall.
Other distinguished guests at the event included Adama Barrow, President of The Gambia, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, President of Guinea-Bissau, George Weah, President of Liberia, Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.
The inauguration of the 50,000 capacity venue was made all the more special by a dazzling line up of Senegalese football legends, who took on some of Africa’s most cherished football legends, in the first ever match to be played at the stadium.
Construction of the 50,000-seat Olympic complex began in February 2020 and is reported to have cost the West African country around 258 million U.S. dollars.
The complex will be the main venue of the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, the first IOC event to be held in Africa and the first in a Muslim-majority country.
Diamniadio is situated around 30 kilometers from Senegal’s capital Dakar. A regional Express railway connecting the two cities was completed in December last year to ease movement for fans and sportspersons.
