St. Mary’s will offer top-class services for Uganda vs South Sudan Afcon qualifier – Vipers SC

Ugandan Premier League champions Vipers SC have confirmed the St. Mary’s Stadium is ready to host and offer classic services during international matches.

The Ugandan national team is expected to face South Sudan at the Kitende facility for the Group B match of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier in mid-November.

“St. Mary’s Kitende Stadium is poised to offer nothing short of top-class service and amenities when it hosts two continental fixtures later this year,” Vipers statement read.

Caf has approved St. Mary’s to host international matches and the Afcon qualifier is set to be the first high-level engagement there. Caf inspectors Emmanuel Newton Dasoberi and Daniel Owofen Amokachi gave the green light for St Mary’s to host those games early in the year. Since then, Vipers have gone on to make major improvements to the facility.

Uganda, who took a week-long training camp trip in Dubai during the international break, will host the northern neighbours for the third match of the group.

They are leading with four points after an away goalless draw against Burkina Faso and a 2-0 win over Malawi at home.

“This great news [Caf approval] comes in a time when the stadium has just undergone upgrades following the expansion of its VIP wing where more seats were added in June 2020, among other things to give it a whole new different look,” the club added.

The South Sudan encounter will be the second match for the Cecafa record champions at St. Mary’s as the first one was the African Nations Championship (Chan) 2018 qualifier between Uganda and the Amavubi of Rwanda.

“The facilities; from the turf, dressing rooms, parking and routes to the stadium are all set and we are excited to welcome everyone at our home,” St. Mary’s Kitende Stadium manager Edward Junior Mulindwa said.

“We have been working and improving on many things in the past few months and we can confirm most of it is done as we prepare for the coming season as well.”

Mandela National Stadium in Namboole and the StarTimes Stadium in Lugogo have always hosted Uganda international matches but the Kitende stadium will now provide a better alternative.

Vipers will also host the Champions League rivals at their own home. They have done this before when they played Platinum Stars of South Africa, El Merriekh of Sudan, Algeria’s CS Constantine and Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien.