The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has maintained that Ghana is not bereft of FIFA-standard pitches for international games.
After the Black Stars’ 1-0 loss to Angola in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) withdrew approval for the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, instructing the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to seek an alternative venue outside Ghana for the next home games.
The sport-governing body offered the services of an international pitch expert to improve the standards of the country’s pitches.
But appearing before Parliament’s Select Committee on Youth and Sports on Tuesday, September 24, Mustapha Ussif said Ghana has a lot of FIFA-standard pitches.
“We have FIFA-standard pitches,” he told the committee members, citing two in Accra, one each in Kumasi, Cape Coast and Essipon, whose facility he said is near completion.
”So, it is not true that we don’t have FIFA-standard facilities in Ghana. It is not true.”
He noted that the Ministry has written to CAF inspectors but they are yet to respond to the request to inspect the country’s pitches.
