Olembe Stadium, Where Stampede Occured At AFCON 2021, Has Been Abandoned

Canadian company Magil, responsible for the completion of work at the Olembe complex which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, has abandoned the project.

Olembe is the same ground where a stampede occurred on January 25, before Cameroon’s match against Comoros. It resulted in at least eight deaths, and several injured. That nightmarish incident now seemingly has a tool on the ground’s non-completion.

Launched in 2016, the infrastructure is still not completed. Worse still, Canadian company Magil Construction, responsible for completing the work, has abandoned the site. The information was carried in a statement sent by the Minister of Sports to the Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Narcisse Mouellé Kombi informed the secretariat of the head of Government that the company responsible for ensuring the finalization of the work has decided to unilaterally terminate its contract with the State of Cameroon. Moreover, Magil Construction is ready to take the case to international court of arbitration from January 5, 2023. “At the same time, the company informed us that it will seek immediate payment of the sum of 10% of the market value” and “will ask for other financial compensations”, wrote Minister Mouellé Kombi.

According to the Minister of Sports, Magil Construction’s decision to “unilaterally” end the contract with Cameroon “is in no way a surprise, because after the signing of the said contract, the actions taken by Magil demonstrated unhealthy intentions”. The three stadiums; main patch and two training stadiums were completed before the Africa Cup of Nations. It is the rest of the Olembé Complex that renains uncompleted. Given the new twist, it is unlikely that the jewel will be definitively delivered anytime soon.