The newly refurbished Amahoro Stadium (Amahoro is a Kinyarwanda word for peace) was officially unveiled by President Paul Kagame on Monday, July 1, 2024
The newly refurbished stadium now boasts of 45,000-seater after it was increased from its previous 25,000-seater capacity. The ultramodern facility, whose renovation commenced in the middle of 2022, was unveiled in a ceremony attended by top football and sports officials within and outside Rwanda, including the President of Confederation of African Football President Mr. Patrice Motsepe, Minister of Sports Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju and others.
Before the commencement of the friendly match between APR FC and Police FC, the President of Rwanda and the President of CAF made some remarks. Summarily, President Kagame emphasised Rwanda’s commitment to developing infrastructure to support talent and sports, ensuring that Rwandans and Africans would benefit from the multi-billion dollar sports industry.
He commended Rwandans for their contributions to the renovation and credited CAF and FIFA leaders for their inspiration and support. Furthermore, President Kagame highlighted the importance of world-class sporting infrastructure in nurturing local talent and urged young footballers to work hard and smart.
“I would like to thank the President of CAF, my brother, Dr.Patrice Motsepe, together with another brother, President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, the two inspired us to put up a good sporting facility for football like this one.
They have done many things to support Rwanda and other African countries and of course beyond, to raise football through availing this kind of facility so that our young people, can have a place to develop and exercise the huge talent we have on our continent.
Now there is no excuse for our young football talent, you have to work hard, you have to work smart, and let’s be counted among the best on our Continent.” he said
Furthermore, President Kagame stated that: “This will lead to more retention of our best talent instead of exporting them all the time. People will still remain free to go wherever they want to be, but they can also look to home for such retention and development of what they want to do. This edifice will allow us to raise more talent in our country instead of importing them from abroad. People will achieve something significant here because of our commitment. Today is a great day for Rwanda and football, and we will continue to improve. We must work hard and smart so that we are counted among the best on our continent.” Kagame added.
On his part, the President of CAF, Dr.Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe praised Rwanda for constructing one of Africa’s best stadia and expressed excitement about watching Rwanda play top global teams shortly.
President Kagame and Dr.Motsepe started the game and signed autographs for two young football fans. Thereafter, a friendly match between Rwandan champions APR FC and Police FC kicked off with APR FC’s Gilbert Mugisha goal being the decider.
It is noteworthy to reiterate that CAF has approved Amahoro Stadium to host international games after series of inspections by the continent’s football governing body.
The Amahoro Stadium is located in the Gasabo district of Kigali, Rwanda. The stadium was constructed and opened in 1986 and was renovated between 2011 to 2016 before the present major expansion from 2022 to 2024.
