2022 WCQ: Baba Yara Stadium 98 per cent ready

The Baba Yara Stadium is “98 per cent ready” to host tomorrow’s epic FIFA World Cup qualifying playoffs between Ghana and Nigeria with only concerns from the Media Centre yet to be fixed, the Daily Graphic understands.

Two weeks ago, a Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection team recommended eight areas that needed to be tackled before the stadium could be given the green light to host the match.

However, the manager of the facility told the Daily Graphic yesterday that almost all the concerns raised by CAF had been tackled and expects the stadium to be ready for the match.

“Apart from the media centre, which is expected to be ready today (Wednesday) or early tomorrow, I can say we are ready to host Nigeria,” Mr Emmanuel Kwadwo Appiah, the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Sports Authority, managers of the stadium, told the Daily Graphic.

At the time of the visit by the Daily Graphic yesterday, new tables and seats were expected to be fixed for media personnel.

Last week CAF directed that the media centre be being upgraded to meet international standards, with the installation of comfortable seats and tables for journalists to work with while creating an aisle for them to meet players.

Aside the outstanding work at the media centre, everything appears to be ready as of yesterday with frequent testing of the floodlights as the match is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

The toilet facility which used to be a major concerns of fans during league matches, has received a major face-lift with janitors on standby to clean the facility and to ensure it is well kept for the use of fans.

Also, the main ‘bowl” of the stadium looks beautiful with the seats in the national colours of red, gold and green, while the playing field looks lush and well manicured.

At the time of the visit, the public address was being tested as the national anthems of both teams could be heard loudly to ensure a seamless showpiece.

“We are not giving anything to chance. The National Sports Authority is ready and Ghana is ready, “Mr Appiah assured.

Last Tuesday, the NSA had a security meeting where detailed arrangements were made to deal with miscreants within and outside the stadium.

A CCTV has been installed within the stadium to monitor everyone who enters the facility.

Training

This morning, Ghana’s Black Stars will hold their final training at the stadium, while the Nigerians get the opportunity to train this evening in line with FIFA regulations.

Later today the Ghana Coach Otto Addo and his players will have an interaction with the media in Kumasi.

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