The Forest Stewardship Council Stadium of Life opened in Maseru on Tuesday as Africa’s first sports venue built entirely from sustainably sourced timber, with 8,584 FSC-certified Eucalyptus poles from MTO Forestry’s Mpumalanga plantations forming the structure of the Kick4Life Centre’s new home ground. That is according to Peter Alele, FSC’s Africa Regional Director, who confirmed the launch under DNV Business Assurance Africa’s independent chain-of-custody certification, tracking every pole from the South African plantation gate through to the Lesotho build.
The opening comes weeks before the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup begins across North America in June, with the Maseru centre tracing back to FIFA’s “20 Centres for 2010” initiative, which was built around Africa’s first staging of the men’s tournament. The Kick4Life campus has operated continuously since its 2011 launch, with hospitality social enterprises No.7 Restaurant and Hokahanya Hotel & Conference Centre funding the centre’s sports-for-development programmes.
Gerard Busse, FSC’s Africa and Middle East Regional Market Development Manager, said the project certification framework verifies that every pole originates from a responsibly managed forest audited under FSC’s chain-of-custody system. “Project certification verifies that the forest materials come from responsibly managed forests,” Busse said.
The 8,584-pole load-bearing system replaces conventional concrete framing across the build, with Pedro Clarke, lead architect at Rise International, saying embodied carbon scrutiny is now driving global construction toward forest products at scale. “Eyes are turning towards forest products,” Clarke said.
DNV Business Assurance Africa audited every pole along the Mpumalanga-to-Maseru supply chain, with Sales Manager Greg Markwell signing off the chain-of-custody documentation in Maseru on Tuesday alongside FSC and Kick4Life Centre representatives.
Rise International delivered the design and construction through its “in loco” programme, the on-site training model developing young construction professionals across Southern Africa under founder Daniela Gusman. The build also carries a dedicated Biodiversity Stand showcasing flora from each of Lesotho’s ten districts and an outdoor amphitheatre branded the Theatre of Life, both designed for community education and cultural performances alongside the football programme.
Steve Fleming MBE, Co-founder of Kick4Life, said the stadium builds on the social enterprise model that earned the charity the 2025 Laureus Sport for Good Award. “We are proud to continue building on the legacy,” Fleming said, with the Maseru campus also operating the four-shipping-container Bophelo Gymnasium & Health Club under the SESLA programme backed by Laureus, the International Olympic Committee and Agence Française de Développement.
The Stadium of Life will operate as the home ground for Kick4Life’s women’s football team, the reigning Lesotho national champions who qualified for the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League, with Country Director Motlatsi Nkhahle confirming the facility will also host the Kick4Life Academy’s student-athlete scholarships into international universities. “It is more than just a place to watch football,” Nkhahle said.
The Stadium of Life opens as confirmed home ground for Lesotho’s reigning national women’s football champions ahead of their 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League campaign, with the venue’s launch coinciding with the first 48-team edition of the FIFA Men’s World Cup across North America in June.
