The Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Professor Peter Twumasi, says the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Ghana Premier League clubs should take charge of constructing and managing their own stadiums.
He emphasizes that this move would help reduce the dependence on state-owned facilities that cater to various sporting events.
Twumasi specifically proposes that funds from Ghana’s participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup be allocated to the construction of a dedicated football stadium. He envisions using World Cup funds to design a facility exclusively for football purposes, with the GFA overseeing the project.
The call for self-owned stadiums comes in the wake of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) deeming the Cape Coast Stadium unsuitable for hosting Medeama Sporting Club’s Champions League matches. Professor Twumasi underscores the importance of football clubs in the Premiership also owning venues of sufficient quality to host matches.
In expressing his stance, Professor Twumasi states, “I think it’s high time the GFA built their own stadium. 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.”
He further suggests that clubs in the Premier League should demonstrate ownership of stadiums or partner with financial institutions for loans, with repayments deducted from their gate proceeds over a specified period.
In the current situation where the Cape Coast Stadium is rejected, Medeama will relocate their CAF Champions League matches to the Baba Yara Stadium.