Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, has assured that Ghana will not lose the hosting rights of the 2023 African Games.
This emerges after the sector Minister on Wednesday told Parliament the country will not be able to build the expected 50,000 capacity stadium at Borteyman for the African Games due to time constraint and the impact of the novel Coronavirus.
Government has now turned to renovate the Legon Sports Stadium to host the games after plans to build the stadium has been called off.
This statement by the Minister raised concerns about whether Ghana risks losing the rights to host the games but answering a question in Parliament concerning the hosting rights, the Sports Minister gave the assurance that the Technical Committee of the African Games was satisfied with the progress made by the country thus far.
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“I want to assure this House that just two weeks ago, the AU Technical Committee was in Ghana, and they visited the various facilities we have and are satisfied that Ghana is capable and able of hosting the best African Games,” he said.
The Minister announced that the uncompleted University of Ghana stadium will now be the centre of the games, with adjoining facilities such as a warm-up area and many more set to be added to the stadium to host the multi-sport event in two years time.
The 13th edition of the Africa Games, formerly known as the All African Games, will involve 54 participating countries and 25 sporting disciplines.
The 50,000 capacity stadium would have cost the country $200m.