Rugby Africa Cup Semifinals shifted back to Namboole from Wankulukuku.
The Cup Semifinals of the 2024 men’s Rugby Africa Cup have been shifted from the Muteesa II Stadium Wankulukuku back to the Mandela National Stadium Namboole, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) has announced. The announcement was made during a press conference held at Namboole on Tuesday 23rd July 2024,
The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the 2024 men’s Rugby Africa Cup has confirmed that the Cup Semifinals would now take place at the Mandela National Stadium Namboole instead of the Muteesa II Stadium Wankulukuku. The news was revealed on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at a press conference held at Namboole.
“We’ve changed the schedule from Muteesa II Stadium Wankulukuku back to here (Namboole). The move has been made basically on a technical basis; the ground here is much better than the one on the other side. We decided to bring it (the tournament) back here because we have a centralized operational center here,” Erasmus Aredo, the LOC vice-chairperson said.
Additionally, Wankulukuku’s facilities were determined to be inadequate and unprepared to accommodate all of the teams on the match day, according to Uganda Rugby Union President Godwin Arinaitwe Kayangwe.
“There weren’t enough changing rooms at the Wankulukuku facility to accommodate the eight teams, which is the real problem. Furthermore, unlike in the past, we cannot presume that tents will suffice for this class of Rugby Africa Cup fifteens. Apart from that, Wankulukuku’s playing surface passed the test and was ready to be used as a backup pitch in case something went wrong. stated Kayangwe.
The Match day Two schedule hasn’t been impacted by the return to Namboole, either. They will remain with the Placement as originally arranged.
Senegal will take on Cote d’Ivoire at 10 a.m. local time (EAT) and Uganda will face Burkina Faso at noon. For a place in the final, Kenya will battle Algeria at 2 p.m. and Namibia will battle Zimbabwe at 4 p.m.