Sudan’s Blue Jewel Stadium open again, but not for all

The El Hilal Club announced on Sunday that the Blue Jewel Stadium in Omdurman is ready to host matches of the Champions League of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after the club’s facilities committee completed all the requirements demanded by the CAF.

All seats that were damaged by supporters of El Meriekh football club, El Hilal’s arch-rival, in December last year were replaced, and the number of benches have been increased.

The Blue Jewel Stadium is a multi-use stadium located in Omdurman. It has a capacity of 25,000 seats and is mostly used for football matches. The stadium is also used for athletics.

Rami Kamal, Deputy Secretary-General of El Hilal Club explained in a press statement on Wednesday that the Sudanese Football Association aims to rehabilitate three stadiums, Sports City, El Hilal and El Meriekh.

He denied rumours that the El Hilal Club’s Board of Directors reconsidered its decision to refuse hosting matches of the El Meriekh Football Club during the African Champions League at the Blue Jewel Stadium.

End December last year, the El Hilal Board of Directors decided to refuse to host El Meriekh matches at the Blue Jewel Stadium because of repeated vandalism of its supporters. Earlier that month, they damaged a number of VIP seats and about 500 seats at the southern side of the stadium.

El Meriekh has now arranged with the Benina Martyrs Stadium in Benghazi, Libya, to play the CAF Champions League matches there instead.

(Sources: SudanPlusNews, Alrakoba Net)