The Black Stars have been banned by CAF from using the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, which was the country’s only approved facility for international games.
The failure of the nation to meet the required standards by CAF, for its international games, left the football governing body, who had cautioned the country several times, with no option than to place a ban on the stadium.
Ghana will, most likely, play its next AFCON 2025 home game against Sudan in October at a neutral venue in either Morocco, Ivory Coast, or Nigeria.
3Sports takes a comprehensive look at the issues which has led to this crucial point.
CAF’s demands
The governing body of African football, CAF, clearly stipulates some requirements which are non-negotiable and must be adhered to.
The requirements include a level field of play, a quality public address system, facilities for spectators with disabilities, a doping control room, and well-ventilated and quality dressing rooms, amongst others.
Despite CAF compromising overtime on the enlisted mandates, Ghana falls short in providing up-to-par facilities and requirements for games.
How Ghana got here
During the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), two standard venues, Aliu Mahamam Stadium in Tamale and Essipong Stadium in Takoradi were constructed by the government of Ghana, which met all of CAF and Fifa’s demands with authorities upgrading two more (Baba Yara in Kumasi and Acrra Stadium in Accra) to have four venues ready for the competition.
However, due to the poor maintenance culture of the nation, the aforementioned stadiums have been left to deteriorate, although the Baba Yara Stadium and Accra Sports Stadium host league games.
The Baba Yara Sports Stadium, which has been closed down to undergo renovations until October, has hosted a chunk of high-profile Black Stars games since 2022 – including the 2022 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria.
The first of many cautions came before Ghana’s clash against Nigeria, with the game taking place despite the underlying issues which has long withheld the quality of football and the nation.
The rollover of events, and CAF’s compromises, as well as a poor maintenance culture, has led Ghana to this point – with the Baba Yara undergoing a fourth renovation in five years.
Why was Baba Yara suspended?
Ghana got suspended by CAF due to the country’s inadequacies to meet CAF’s requirement, which include playing on a substandard surface, providing low-quality washrooms and PA address systems.
These are standouts amongst numerous minor issues (sub-standard dressing rooms, security issues) which the county fails to comply with, as stipulated by CAF.
Ghana’s options
With October’s internationals looming, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) must provide an alternative venue on where the Black Stars’ home game against Sudan will be played.
However, some options are available to the team, with Ivory Coast’s Houphouet Stadium a viable location for the Black Stars. Two of Ghana’s 2023 AFCON games were played at the venue, which makes it a feasible option.
Additionally, Ghana could play against Sudan at the Stade Municipal de Berkane, where they faced Niger on Monday.
Another option, which does not sit too well with the majority of Ghanaians, is playing the game in Nigeria’s Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
The GFA will explore all of the country’s options, before relating to CAF what the final decision is.
Which countries have faced such crisis?
A host of countries have been banned by CAF for putting up substandard facilities, including Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé, and Burundi.
However, a curious case is that of Mali which had no standard grounds two years ago but have managed to put up 10 stadiums which are up to CAF and Fifa standards. Five of the stadiums have been approved with five yet to be cleared by CAF.
A splurge of cash was spent on the project as the stadiums were closed down and underwent massive renovations,
What has been said?
The alarming situation at hand has numerous Ghanaians venting out their frustrations on the failure to renovate the various stadiums for use.
A renovation of the Baba Yara stadium is estimated to cost the nation around $250,000, which was echoed by ace journalist and pundit Saddick Adams.
However, a game away from Ghana is expected to cost the nation more than intended.
“We could have spent $250,000 on the Baba Yara field. Now, if we fly them to Morocco, we need to board flight for like $450,000 to play away game; a game that we would have played at home. So Partey and co will come here then we have another chartered flight for like $500,000 because one Black Stars game is $1m, that’s average,” he said
“Feeding and hotel will cost us around $600,000, but we could have fixed the Baba Yara Stadium with $250,000 permanently,” he added.
As the weeks unfold, Ghana races against time to submit a standard venue for the next Black Stars assignment.
By Andrews Sefa Bamfo
