New football stadium opens in Ghazni

GHAZNI CITY(PAN): A newly-constructed football stadium was inaugurated in southern Ghazni province on Thursday, an official said.

Funded by the National Olympic Committee, the building cost 24 million afghanis, a local official of the committee, Pacha Khan, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The facility would enable 75 percent of players in the province to have access to better sport facilities and grounds, he said.

Built according to international standards in the Ali Lala desert east of Ghazni City, the stadium has the capacity to house 5,000 spectators.

Ghazni Football Federation deputy chief, Daud Khaksar, called the new stadium a good omen for sportspeople. Earlier, he recalled, Ghazni footballers had to play in a dusty and uneven ground.

But some footballers complained the stadium was not technically sound. “The structure is small when I look at its cost,” said Nazir Ahmad, a member of the Shamir football team.

ma/mud