The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has given the green light for Mandela National Stadium-Namboole to resume hosting international matches.

This announcement follows a statement shared by Ahmed Hussein, the spokesperson for the Ugandan Football Association (FUFA), confirming that CAF has granted permission for international fixtures to be held at Namboole Stadium.

This decision comes on the heels of FUFA conducting two test matches at the stadium, demonstrating its readiness to meet the required standards for hosting international matches.

The clearance from CAF means that the Uganda Cranes will now have the opportunity to host their crucial FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying fixtures against Botswana and Algeria on home soil next month. Previously, the national team had to play its international matches away from home due to the unavailability of a suitable stadium.

Reports from last month indicated that FUFA had been engaged in negotiations with CAF to allow Namboole Stadium to host the June games, contingent upon the stadium meeting the necessary criteria. This plea by FUFA followed a CAF inspection report which highlighted various deficiencies in the stadium’s infrastructure despite undergoing renovations for the past two years.

The inspection report identified several areas that required attention, including relocating the media tribunal, addressing an unfinished ceiling, upgrading floodlights, improving the VVIP section, and reducing seating capacity from 40,818 to 38,000 due to visibility issues caused by structural posts.

Despite these queries, Col Peter Kidemuka, the Project Engineer, assured that most issues were already being addressed and would be resolved soon. The floodlights, a key concern, have been ordered and are expected to arrive shortly. Kidemuka pledged that the stadium would be ready by May 25, 2025, well in advance of the Uganda Cranes’ fixtures.

Speaking to Uganda Radio Network (URN) then, Decolus Kiiza, FUFA’s Deputy CEO in Charge of Football, said they had initiated negotiations with CAF to honour the contractor’s new deadline and inform Algeria and Botswana of any developments.

“We are trying to negotiate given the concrete program now because the major hindrance now is the floodlights. It is the only factor that cannot easily be met. So until they are here you can’t guarantee anything, so we are negotiating whether they can allow us to work with that revised program of completion,” Kiiza told URN.

Subsequently, FUFA selected two Uganda Premier League matches, including the traditional Kampala derby between KCCA FC and SC Villa, along with Bidco FC facing Kitende-based club Vipers SC, to be played at the stadium as part of the measures to test its readiness after two years under renovation, a development that FUFA boss Moses Magogo described as a success.

This will be the first time for Uganda Cranes to host its games at their favoured Namboole stadium since November 2019, when they last, hosted their games there before the facility was blacklisted by the continental soccer governing body, claiming that it was substandard.