Bamako: The Ouezzin Coulibaly stadium, named after the first Voltaic leader, was renovated by Malian authorities and inaugurated this Monday in Bamako by the Malian Minister of Youth and Sports, in charge of Civic Education and Citizenship Construction, Abdoul Kassim Fomba, reports Malian public television.

According to Burkina Information Agency, "From just one approved stadium, Mali has now gone to five approved stadiums, and very soon, we will have seven. The President of the Transition, Army General Assimi Gota, has demonstrated his full political will to support the sports community," Minister Abdoul Kassim Fomba said on Malian public television. The head of the Sports Department spoke on Monday after presiding over the inauguration ceremony of the Ouezzin Coulibaly stadium, held under the high patronage of the President of the Transition, Army General Assimi Gota.

Now with a capacity of 3,086, the Ouezzin Coulibaly Stadium meets the highest international standards, providing athletes and the public with a modern facility. This is the tenth renovated stadium in the country. Stadium director Zoumana Fan© welcomed the renovation and its inauguration: "It's a complete satisfaction. The state has invested significant sums in this stadium. It's now up to us to manage it well," he stressed.

The work undertaken has enabled the stadium to be equipped with modern facilities that meet the current requirements of high-level sport, including changing rooms, stands, pitch, training equipment, and reception facilities for the public. The Ouezzin Coulibaly stadium has undergone three major renovations: the first in 2001 for the African Cup of Nations (CAN), the second in 2010, and the third in 2025.

The stadium was named after Mali's independence in 1960 by President Modibo Keita to honor his "master," his "guide," and illustrious companion in the struggle for African independence, Daniel Ou©zzin Coulibaly, first President of the Governing Council of Upper Volta. Both trained as teachers, they founded the first teachers' union in French West Africa in Senegal in 1937 and later led the African Democratic Rally (RDA), founded in Bamako in 1946.

The death of the first Voltaic leader, Daniel Ou©zzin Coulibaly, in 1958, profoundly affected Upper Volta and all of black Africa. At his funeral, Modibo Keita declared: "Each of us has worked in our own territory; you, Ou©zzin, (.) you worked on the scale of Africa. My dear master, my much missed guide, my elder and brother in the struggle, now a legend, our brother of dark days and days of glory, farewell, sleep in peace."

The renovation of this stadium comes at a time when the worthy heir of Modibo Keita, the President of the Transition, Army General Assimi Gota, and the worthy successor of Daniel Ou©zzin Coulibaly, the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traor©, have created, with the sister country of Niger led by Army General Abdourahamane Tiani, the Confederation of Sahel States (AES), with the aim of achieving complete independence for their countries and for Africa.