The Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Adoum Garoua and the president of the National Olympic and sports committee, Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, yesterday signed a convention towards the construction of an Olympic city in Obala near Yaounde.

Speaking during the signing ceremony at his cabinet, Minister Adoum Garoua said the construction of the Olympic village stems from the wish of the president of the republic to furnish Cameroonian athletes with a befitting sports infrastructure.

He said the Olympic city is futuristic and places sports at the forefront of Cameroon’s emergence effort and also falls within the framework of the programme for the development of sports infrastructure. He said government will support the project and urged it to go to the logical ending saying the accord was proof of collaboration between his ministry and sports organizations.

The president of the Olympic committee said the idea of constructing the Olympic city came from the escape of seven Cameroonian athletes during the London Olympic in 2012 which made them to realize the need for a high-level training infrastructure for athletes so as to curb talent drain.

Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum said contrary to stadiums which are reserved for football and athletics, the Olympic city have training facilities for all sports disciplines as well as an office for sports federations.

He said the centre which will be similar to the Aspire Centre in the United Arab Emirates will comprise a football stadium, an athletics track, a gymnasium and a big hall for the practice of sports disciplines like basketball, volleyball, handball, taekwondo and others.

There will also be a medical centre and a training centre for the reconversion of athletes. He said the construction of the Olympic City could last from three to four years and the cost will only be determined after feasibility studies must have been conducted.