Work to repair the electrical system of the “24 de Setembro” football stadium in Guinea-Bissau, has been completed, under a contract costing 500 million CFA francs (about US$810,000) supported by the government of China, said the director of the sports facility.

Paulino Malaca said that the work was carried out by Chinese workers sent at the request of the Guinea-Bissau government, after in March 2015 a group of burglars stole the cables that feed the footbal stadium’s electrical system, the only one in the country with natural grass, with a capacity for 15,000 spectators and built in the 1990s by the People’s Republic of China.

The work involved installation of a new electrical system, as the previous one could not be repaired because the thieves had cut the cables to sell the copper on the black market, Malaca said.

The “24 de Setembro” stadium, in addition to football matches, particularly international ones, hosts other major events, including the inauguration of presidents-elect and former heads of state Kumba Yala, Nino Vieira, Malam Bacai Sanha and in 2014 the current President José Mário Vaz. (macauhub)