8 conditions that must be met before Ghana faces Nigeria at Baba Yara

Ghana will face financial sanctions if it is unable to meet eight requirements under which it was granted a one-match approval for the use of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium for its FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers playoff round match against rivals Nigeria.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) in a letter granting approval for the tie said a raft of conditions must be met before the match against Nigeria on March 25, 2022.

They include:

1. Installation of new international standard, modern and comfortable officials’ benches at pitch level;
2. Adjustment of the floodlight intensity. A minimum of 1200 Lux should be provided all over the pitch, covering uniformly every area of the playing field;
3. Increase seating and lockers in the teams dressing rooms to reach (25) persons;
4. Installation of completely new modern equipment and materials in the referees dressing rooms and ensure that is equipped with all the necessary materials and CAF requirements;
5. Set up the water system to provide both cold and hot water in the teams and officials dressing room;
6. General refurbishment of the CAF office, installation of modern desks and seats, including the necessary electronic and working equipment;
7. VOC must be available and equipped with all the necessary equipment and requirements;
8. Complete refurbishment of the media tribune, press conference room and media centre, installing new and modern equipment

In order to follow the progress of the above-mentioned works in the stadium, CAF will designate a stadium inspector to conduct an onsite assessment up till the day of the upcoming FIFA match.

CAF in a letter signed by CAF Development Officer, Raul Chipenda and sent to the General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association, Prosper Harrison Addo, Esq. and copied to FIFA, stated that an onsite stadium inspector will conduct further assessment of the facility until the day of the match and that in the event that the conditions are not met before the match; financial sanctions shall be imposed on Ghana.

The playoff was initially scheduled for the Cape Coast Sports Stadium on March 25 but was aborted because of the poor state of the pitch after the facility hosted the 65th Independence Day Celebrations on March 6.

Despite major renovation works by the managers of the facility, the National Sports Authority, the Cape Coast venue was rejected by CAF inspectors on March 14.