Pilditch Stadium to host more championship events on behalf of ASA - Moloi

Expect more major international and local athletics championship events to take place in Pretoria in the next few years. That's according to Athletics South Africa President (ASA) James Moloi who was in the City of Tshwane last week to attend the opening of the new and improved Pilditch Stadium. As Olympic medalists Caster Semenya and Khotso Mokoena looked on, the municipality officially handed over the multi-million Rand facility which is now ready to host major athletics events.

"We are very excited for this handover. We just want to thank the City of Tshwane for allowing us to be here," said Moloi at an event organised to celebrate the handover. "The lease agreement with the stadium management together with the city is a 99-year lease, so we are not going to encounter any problems going forward about hosting events. From our side we will try our level best to bring more international events to Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) on behalf of Athletics South Africa. So we will do more senior championships and junior championships," he shared.

Moloi's revelation is consistent with ASA's failed plans to host the 2021 ASA Senior Track and Field Championships at the Pretoria West facility earlier this year. Those plans had to be scrapped when it was found that the stadium would not be complete in time to host the event in April. It left AGN without a home and at the mercy of the University of Pretoria to assist them whenever they wanted to host events. AGN President Hendrick Mokganyetsi says they now have their own home, which will allow them to run their programmes unhindered.

"Today's launch means a lot to AGN. We are going to develop more top athletes. Just as history has taught us by what we saw at the World Junior Championships in Nairobi, it means that this stadium will enhance our development programmes and make sure that we host events. And also as the president of ASA has said, we will bid for international events so we can have them at home. So AGN has it's own home now and we are looking forward to it," he concluded.