Unfortunate we got to this point- NSA Board Chair on “Stadium Situation”

National Sports Authority (NSA) Board Chairman, Seth Pawum, has described Ghana’s “stadium situation” as unfortunate following the closure of multiple stadia over poor conditions of the facilities.

He said this as he answered questions at a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing on Sports, Culture and Tourism on the second day of the hearing.

Day One had Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif address the panel where he spoke about the controversial three million dollar expenditurespent by Ghana’s Contingent at the 2023 AFCON in Cote D’Ivoire despite Ghana failing to progress beyond the group stage.

Seth Pawum stated in his address that the NSA officer who rented out the Baba Yara Stadium for church activities before Ghana’s game against Angola for a 2025 AFCON qualifier is facing internal disciplinary action.

Hosting the event damaged the pitch and led to several complaints by head coaches of Ghana and Angola and ultimately led to a ban by CAF.

“CAF said we should do major work on the pitch which we have admitted and we are doing so at now if they even come back per the work that we have done on the pitch, if they come they will pass us to use it for the next game but per their rules we need to give them the breathing space so that subsequently we can write to them again to come and re-look at the pitch, assess it and then give us the green light to go back to it. I must say that it’s unfortunate we got to this point.