Thohoyandou Stadium will be ready to host Absa Premiership League matches when the activities for the new season kick off in the second week of August.

According to the manager of sports and recreation in the Thulamela Municipality, Mr Ronald Makhadi, the contractor is currently doing the final touches on the pitch. He mentioned that they expected that the stadium would be officially handed over to the municipality before the end of next month. About R8 million has been spent on the refurbishment of the stadium. Apart from the pitch, the changing rooms, ablution blocks and the water lines had been refurbished as well.

The opening of the Thohoyandou Stadium comes at a time when a local club, Black Leopards, is on the brink of gaining promotion to the Absa Premiership Division. Lidoda Duvha, Polokwane City and Milano United are currently taking part in the promotional play-off matches. The best team in the promotional playoffs will gain promotion to the country’s elite league.

Thohoyandou Stadium was officially closed in 2009 because the the authorities wanted to renovate it, so that it could be used as one of the training venues for the FIFA 2010 World Cup matches. The anticipated renovations became a nightmare when it was announced that the stadium would no longer be used as a training venue during the historic event.

The closure of the Thohoyandou Stadium forced Black Leopards to use the Tshifulanani and Malamulele Stadium as their home venues for two seasons before the team was relocated to Polokwane after gaining promotion to the Absa Premiership Division two seasons ago. Black Leopards are using the Giyani Stadium in their promotional play-off matches.