The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has okayed the use of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi to host the 2022 World Cup play-off between Ghana and Nigeria.
This comes after a CAF Licensing team visited the stadium last Sunday to inspect the facility.
The visit of the CAF Licensing Inspector was necessitated following a complaint by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) about the poor nature of the Cape Coast Sports Stadium turf which days earlier hosted the 65th Independence anniversary parade.
CAF again ordered an onsite stadium inspector to conduct an enhanced assessment of the facility until the day of the match and that if the above-mentioned conditions are not met before the match; financial sanctions should be imposed on Ghana.
The Black Stars will host Nigeria in the first leg of the qualifier on Friday, March 25, 2022, at 19:30GMT.
The second leg will be held in Abuja on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, for a place in the next FIFA Mundial.
Here are excerpts of the letter sent to the GFA by CAF:
Upon conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 playoff round match, the stadium is automatically removed from the list of CAF approved stadiums and will only be approved for any subsequent CAF/FIFA international senior national teams matches and CAF men’s interclub competitions following the implementation of all the CAF remarks”.
Installation of new international standard, modern and comfortable officials’ benches at pitch level;
Adjustment of the floodlight intensity. A minimum of 1200 Lux should be provided all over the pitch, covering uniformly every area of the playing field;
Increase seating and lockers in the team dressing rooms to reach (25) persons;
Installation of completely new modern equipment and materials in the referees dressing rooms and ensure that is equipped with all the necessary materials and CAF requirements;
Set up the water system to provide both cold and hot water in the teams and official’s dressing room;
General refurbishment of the CAF office, installation of modern desks and seats, including the necessary electronic and working equipment;
VOC must be available and equipped with all the necessary equipment and requirements;
Complete refurbishment of the media tribune, press conference room and media centre, installing new and modern equipment.
To follow the progress of the above-mentioned works in the stadium, CAF will designate a stadium inspector to conduct an onsite assessment up till the day of the upcoming FIFA match.
