In 1979 Somalia opened a state of the art sports stadium to host international sporting events. But with the beginning of the civil war in the 1990s the stadium became a base for successions of fighting forces. Last month it was formally handed it back to the state, so can it reclaim its former glory? BBC Somali’s Ahmed Abdinur was a sports official at the stadium during its glory days.

Image: Mogadishu athletics track overgrown with grass and trees after decades of war in Somalia
Credit: Mohamed Abdiwahabafp/Getty Images