In a recent statement, Professor Peter Twumasi, the Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), has advocated for the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Ghana Premier League clubs to take charge of constructing and managing their own stadiums.
The move, he believes, would reduce dependence on state-owned facilities for sporting events.
Professor Twumasi specifically proposes allocating funds from Ghana's participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup to the construction of a dedicated football stadium.
He envisions utilizing 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 response to the Cape Coast Stadium being deemed unsuitable by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for hosting Medeama Sporting Club's Champions League matches.
Professor Twumasi emphasizes the importance of football clubs in the Premiership having 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 Premier League clubs demonstrate ownership of stadiums or partner with financial institutions for loans, with repayments deducted from their gate proceeds over a specified period.
In light of the rejection of the Cape Coast Stadium, Medeama Sporting Club will relocate their CAF Champions League matches to the Baba Yara Stadium.
