Comments on: Building Stadiums: Angola, China, and the African Cup of Nations

By: Angola: The richest poor country in the world…. and the Chinese connection « Benji's Blog

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:23:13 +0000

[...] second piece – a superb post by Andrew Guest at PitchInvasion.com – homes in on China’s involvement in stadium building for the [...]

By: Cabinda, Angola, Togo and the Africa Cup of Nations Tragedy | Pitch Invasion

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:08:39 +0000

[...] tournament as a showcase for the country in the wake of the terrible, decades long civil war, building shining new stadiums across the country. It promised to be a wonderful story for the country. But did they risk hosting games in Cabinda as [...]

By: Playing the Francophone Advantage in Africa: A Colonialism Review / Africa Cup of Nations Preview | Pitch Invasion

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:58:49 +0000

[...] is flush with natural resources, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, four glistening new soccer stadiums built by Chinese friends, and immense potential both on and off the pitch. Mali’s story, in contrast, is more of the [...]

By: Gifts for an Angolan Christmas: A Sort-of Soccer Story | Pitch Invasion

Gifts for an Angolan Christmas: A Sort-of Soccer Story | Pitch Invasion — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:29:08 +0000

[...] few fans of the game might be interested in some experiences of Angola outside the stadiums (which I wrote about last month). If you like your soccer writing witty and cynical, please ignore. If you can excuse some [...]

By: Lanterne Rouge

Lanterne Rouge — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:35:08 +0000

An astonishingly informative post. As a keen student of African affairs and a big fan of African soccer, I’d usually root for the Angolans here; but there are just so many major issues surrounding the holding of sporting events in countries where the money would unquestionably be better employed elsewhere. Even in the UK, it’s debatable that money should be diverted to the Olympics at the expense of social services, so how much more acute is this question in Luanda? I guess ticket prices will be key – I seem to remember some recent tournaments taking place in front of empty stadia – the Mali event of a few years’ back springs to mind – and I am also forced to recall the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies as a sorry example of how to exclude the local population. I hope CAF have got it right this time.

By: Spitze

Spitze — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:09:25 +0000

We are going through a difficult period, and in Africa is even harder, so I don’t think that Angolans will build that stadium

By: Building Stadiums: Angola, China, and the African Cup of Nations « Bradt Guide to Angola : Update Website

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:24:00 +0000

[...] China, and the African Cup of Nations By Mike Stead Read this interesting article from the Pitch Invasion website Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)CAN 2010 Media Accreditation to close by October [...]

By: Andrew Guest

Andrew Guest — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:40:42 +0000

Good question Elliot. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down much info about what specifically will happen with the stadiums after the Cup of Nations. I would note that the fact they have running tracks–while a problem for soccer atmosphere–does indicate intentions for future use. I’d also note that (different from Atlanta or Rome) Angola’s infrastructure suffered so much from 27 years of civil war that new stadiums are not redundant–I know they will be used by local clubs and for future national team matches since most of the existing stadiums are pretty badly run down.

On the other side of things, however, the stadium locations seem to mostly be in barren areas outside of the main towns. I think the idea there is to facilitate suburban development in over-crowded towns (something that was not possible during the war)–the plans all seem to have housing around the stadiums, but that housing is not there as of now. And those types of plans are always tricky. So, again unlike the US or Italy, I suspect a lot of whether the stadiums are useful in the future depends on how development proceeds in Angola more broadly. They (and the Chinese) are making massive investments in all kinds of infrastructure–roads, railways, planned communities, etc.. But how that plays out, and whether the money actually gets where it is supposed to go, is still yet to be determined.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:24:37 +0000

Great article Andrew! One question – do they have sporting transition for the plans after the CAN, like the Olympics at Atlanta 96, or can we expect some hollow San Siro caverns of years past?