May 14 – Somalian football, which has been making great strides to overcome the country’s violent and turbulent past, is being given a high profile boost with the visit of three of Africa’s most senior football legends in a show of solidarity and demonstration of the increased safety in the country.
Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) and Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) will visit Somalia on May 27.
The country is hoping to have the ban lifted enabling it to play home national team games in Mogadishu.
The National Stadium in Mogadishu was badly damaged during the civil war and only hosted its first football games in early 2024 after three decades of non-football use.
The stadium was used as a base for Ethiopian troops before coming under the control of Al-Shabbab militants before being used as a base for African Union peacekeepers until being handed back to local authorities, who eventually returned it to football use by the end of 2023.
New minister for youth and sport, Mohamed Abdulkadir Ali (pictured right), himself a former player, announced the visit of the African legends in a press briefing at Somali Football Federation headquarters last weekend.
“The visit of the trio under the theme of ‘The legendary Peace Tour’ will mark a major milestone in our recent history and will hopefully break the barriers and show the outside world that Somalia has achieved new heights,” said Ali.
“There are several preconditions in place that Somalia must fulfil before being allowed to host its home games in the country, so the legendry peace tour will pave the way for a process that will finally see Somalia host its home games in Mogadishu. The ministry I lead and Somali Football Federation are jointly working on that,” he continued.
The visitors will be welcomed at the Eng. Yarisow Stadium in Mogadishu before touring the SFF Headquarters.
They will then join Somali parliament members, government ministers and former Somali Internationals in a friendly match at Mogadishu Stadium.
The legends are also scheduled to visit the presidential palace where they will meet, Somalia’s president Dr. Hassan Sheik Mohamud.
“The match is to encourage peace and football development in Somalia,” said Somali Football Federation president Ali Abdi Mohamed (pictured right). Somali prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre will kick the first ball.
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