South Sudan’s Football Association (SSFA) has announced that the country’s national teams will host all their 2019 international matches in Kampala, Uganda.
It comes after the national stadium in Juba began reconstruction work on Saturday, which could take up to a year to complete.
According to BBC Sport, Francis Amin, the SSFA President said, “It is cheaper and nearer for us to play in Uganda than moving to Khartoum in Sudan.
“Besides, we also have several South Sudanese who stay in Uganda and can always come to cheer the teams,” Amin added.
Delegates from football’s world body were in Juba to oversee the start of the renovations, which are being aided by a Fifa development programme.
Amin said South Sudan’s shift to Uganda for ‘home’ matches would start in March when they are scheduled to host Tunisia in a 2019 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match which also serves as an Olympic qualifier.
He said they will also be organising several international friendly matches in 2019 which will also take place in Kampala.
South Sudan achieved independence from Sudan in 2011 and was voted into full membership of Fifa at the world body’s annual congress in the Hungarian capital Budapest in 2012.