City of Kigali announces interim solution for Pelé Stadium lighting issues

The City of Kigali has announced a temporary measure to address the lighting issues at Kigali Pelé Stadium, ensuring evening matches can continue as scheduled. The quick solution follows criticism from President Paul Kagame on Thursday, August 22. City authorities had informed the Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) and the league board earlier in the day that the stadium would not be able to host evening matches for the next three months due to ongoing generator issues. In response, the president took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his discontent, stating, “This should NOT have happened in the first place.” This should NOT have happened in the first place!!! — Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) August 22, 2024 Emma-Claudine Ntirenganya, the City of Kigali spokesperson, acknowledged that although a new generator has been ordered, it will not arrive in time. In the interim, a temporary generator will be used to facilitate night games. “We are committed to resolving the lighting issues promptly. In the meantime, teams can continue to play night games with the temporary generator we’ve arranged,” Ntirenganya told The New Times. Ntirenganya explained that the delay in acquiring the new generator is due to the allocation of funds from the 2024-2025 budget. ALSO READ: Kagame honours Pelé as Rwanda stadium is named after late icon The city had previously alerted Ferwafa that night games would be suspended until the issue was resolved. The issue first came to light in March when Rayon Sports were forced to reschedule a match against rivals APR from 6pm to 3pm over inadequate lighting.

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City of Kigali announces interim solution for Pelé Stadium lighting issues