PHOTO: Messi lays first stone of 2017 Nations Cup venue in Gabon

Four-time world player of the year Lionel Messi linked up with Gabonese president Ali Bongo Ondimba on Saturday to lay the first stone at a future Africa Cup of Nations venue.

The Barcelona star, who won a treble of Spanish title, Copa del Rey and European Champions League last season, officially started the building process at the Port-Gentil stadium, which will host Africa Cup of Nations matches in 2017.

The ceremony took place on a wide sandy ground where the stadium will be built.

It was the Argentine forward’s first visit to Gabon and he signed autographs on team jerseys worn by his fans, before proceeding with the laying of the first stone, accompanied by the president.

“When I was in Barcelona a few years ago, I met Messi who had told me that he would come to visit me in Libreville,” said the Gabon president.

“It’s a promise he made me. He is a man of honour who just kept his word.”

The new stadium will have a capacity of 20,000 and is expected to host matches from November 2016 in the build-up to the tournament.

Port Gentil is Gabon’s second city.

-BBC

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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