Somalia to Host Eritrea U-20s in the First Home International for 30yrs

 Somalia’s under 20 football team will host their Eritrean counterpart on 16th February in Mogadishu for an international friendly match.

The historic encounter is the first home international since 1988.

Somalia’s football federation chairman, Abdikani Said Arab has confirmed the schedule of the historic match to be staged at Konis Stadium in the south of the capital, Mogadishu.

Security situation in Somalia for the past years has forced the national team to play its home games in Djibouti due to security concerns by the opponents but football federation in Somalia is now confident that the nation is ready to host upcoming regional international matches such as the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).

“We are planning to host regional soccer competitions in nearby future,” the chairman of Somali football federation, Abdikani Arab told BBC sports during an interview. “We have relative calm now.”

The biggest stadium in the country, Stadio Mogadishu is under renovation after suffering damages from the decades of conflict in the country and according to the ministry of sports, the facility which will be ready before the end of this year to host annual regional states tournament as a test.

The Norwegian government is funding the refurbishment projects of the biggest sports facility in the country that was initially built by the Chinese government in 1978.

Somalia last played an international match at home in 1988 when Mauritius were the opponents in the capital Mogadishu in an Olympic qualifier.

Ever since security concerns have prevented Somalia from staging home internationals at any level