Black Stars will host Nigeria in Cape Coast, it’s non-negotiable – GFA

Ghana Football Association(GFA) has confirmed that the Cape Coast Sports Stadium is the selected venue for Black Stars 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff against Nigeria.

Despite National Sports Authority(NSA) communicating to the GFA to change the venue for the match, the FA’s communications director, Henry Asante Twum has said the match coming off in Cape Coast is ‘non-negotiable’.

The NSA’s request is in relation to the government’s decision to stage the country’s independence day at the venue.

Speaking to Joy News, Twum explained that the stadium was the only venue submitted to CAF for the match and thus no changes can be made because a deadline of 90 days has already passed.

“We’ll play in Cape Coast, we have already communicated to CAF. there are regulations that govern football and need to be followed judiciously. 90 days to every game, you need to confirm your venue. Unfortunately at the time CAF wanted us to confirm our venue, government hadn’t informed us that they would use the Cape Coast stadium for the 6th March independence celebration,” he said.

Earlier reports claimed that the FA was considering moving the match to the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi following the NSA’s order.

But Twum has denied that the venue was never up for discussion.

“So Kumasi never came up because at that time we did not even submit Kumasi during the main World Cup qualifiers so if it is government or the NSA had engaged us at the time, we could have communicated to CAF to then send people to come and inspect the Kumasi sports stadium. I’m sure if we had done that in November, all this will not have come up. Once we have communicated to CAF we will play in Cape Coast, it is non-negotiable,” he concluded.

Nigeria, on the other hand, have selected the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja for the crunch encounter.

CAF on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, announced the date for the double-header.

The first leg is slated for March 24, 2022, in Ghana where the second leg is scheduled for March 27 in Abuja.