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Many have voiced out against renting out the national stadiums for concerts, church rallies, and other non-sporting activities, majorly because the pitches suffer severely afterward.
However, over the years, these calls have fallen on the deaf ears of authorities with the National Sports Authority (NSA) arguing and trying their very best to justify these actions.
The use of stadiums for concerts is a worldwide practice but in the absence of protective equipment like pitch covers, it becomes a self-sabotaging move of destroying the national stadiums.
And taking extreme measures such as shutting down stadiums to cash out from these concerts to the detriment of the facilities speaks volumes about what’s wrong about Ghana’s maintenance culture.
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In December 2023, the NSA announced closing the Accra Sports Stadium to football matches to rent it out for Christmas concerts instead. A ridiculous decision that will always be a laughable move no matter the thousand and one reasons channeled out in defense.
After one such concert, footages showed the pitch in a dilapidated state with the grass looking pale and grey. Making it unplayable for a long time.
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Past NSA administrations have claimed to use the funds generated to maintain these facilities but anyone who has been to these stadiums knows that’s far from the truth.
Generated funds are not accounted for
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In fact, during a Public Accounts Committee sitting in February 2024, the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, disclosed that dancehall artiste Stonebwoy paid an amount of GH₵ 169,000 to secure the Accra Sports Stadium for his Bhim Concert in December 2023.
This revelation contradicted the earlier claim made by the NSA, stating that Stonebwoy paid only GH₵ 70,000 for the venue.
As to what happened to other fees collected by the Authority for various concerts over time, no one truly knows.
Concerts at stadiums destruct pitches
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But one thing is clear, there’s little to nothing these facilities have benefitted from hosting several concerts bar their slow destruction. The new NSA administration led by Yaw Ampofo Ankrah can’t repeat the mistakes of past administrations.
Hence, it’s refreshing to note that sports have been prioritised for some time now on these facilities, especially at the Accra Sports Stadium.
NSA must stand firm, results are evident
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The results have been evident; the Accra Sports Stadium pitch has drastically improved and many football fans would agree it’s due to revamped maintenance works, not forgetting less pressure due to no concerts at the stadium.
Even Black Stars players have testified to this effect. Elisha Owusu expressed satisfaction with the playing surface in a media interview after the team’s first training session on Monday, October 7, 2024, just before they took on Sudan at the same venue on Thursday, October 10, 2024. He shared:
It was good, I will not lie to you; the pitch was quite good. And we had an amazing training today, so we are really happy that everybody is doing their thing to help us play better football.
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A country like Ghana shouldn’t be cornered by a CAF ban again before basic things like pitch maintenance are prioritised.
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It’s getting to mid-year, but when the end-of-year festive season comes knocking, the NSA must not give in to the temporary benefit of cashing out by renting out the stadiums for musical concerts if protective equipment is still unavailable.