Football administrator Samuel Anim Addo has warned that if the various stadiums are not properly maintained, Ghana may soon have to play its home games in neighboring nations.
This comes after a large crude was held on the pitch at Kumasi’s Baba Yara Sports Stadium last week.
The Baba Yara Stadium is now the country’s only recognized international match venue, and it will host the Black Stars’ 2025 AFCON qualifier against Angola in five weeks time.
However, the Deeper Christian Life Ministry held a crusade on the pitch last Thursday, with no grass protection.
In photographs that went popular on social media, a stage and numerous canopies were set up on the pitch, as thousands of people gathered on the bare grass.Many Ghanaian supporters have expressed concern over the stadium’s pitch’s lack of protection, and Anim Addo, a former GFA Executive Council member, has also spoken out.
“Do we want to play our home matches in another country because our stadiums are unfit for international matches due to the authorities’ negligence?” he told the Graphic Sports.
“We invest heavily in building stadiums, but we are not protecting them for sports. We love the game, but we don’t want to protect it.”
He added: “It’s a big disappointment,” said Mr Addo, a former member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Council.
“This [protection of the pitches] has been an issue for discussion for a long time, but the National Sports Authority appears not ready to do the right thing to preserve the pitches. As a country, we must begin to sanction duty bearers to serve as a deterrent.” Meanwhile, the Black Stars will face Angola in a 2025 AFCON qualifier at the Baba Yara Stadium on September 5.
Reporter: Abigail Takyiwaa Boateng.
