Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Professor Peter Twumasi, has advocated for the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Ghana Premier League clubs to take the initiative in constructing and managing their own stadiums.
Twumasi emphasized that owning dedicated stadiums would alleviate the heavy reliance on state-owned facilities, currently accommodating a wide array of sporting events.
In a proactive suggestion, Twumasi proposed the utilization of Ghana’s funds from the 2022 FIFA World Cup to establish a football-centric stadium, exclusively for the sport’s activities.
These recommendations follow the recent ruling by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) deeming the Cape Coast Stadium unsuitable for hosting Medeama Sporting Club’s Champions League matches.
The repercussions extend beyond Medeama’s inability to utilize the stadium, as the venue has been barred from hosting any international games due to its failure to meet the necessary requirements.
“I think it’s high time the GFA built their own stadium,” Prof Twumasi told Graphic Sports.
“For example, the World Cup money that we get should be used for some of these things — building a stadium.
“We can use the World Cup money to design a stadium purposely for football matters and the federation (GFA) will handle that.”
On the clubs, he added, “Not only the GFA, but all the clubs playing in the Premiership must own stadiums or venues good enough to host a match.
“If I have my way, every club that plays in the Premier League must demonstrate that they have their own stadium. If they don’t have the money they can team up with the banks for loans to be deducted from their gate proceeds for a number of years.”
Following the rejection of the Cape Coast Stadium, Medeama will relocate their CAF Champions League matches to the Baba Yara Stadium.