Avram Grant: Late change of venue to Malabo is an inconvenience

Black Stars Coach Avram Grant has admitted that the late decision by CAF for Ghana to move from Mongomo to Malabo for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final clash is an inconvenience to the team.

The Black Stars, who are awaiting CAF to decide on whether their quarter-final opponent will be Guinea or Mali, will leave for Malabo on Thursday morning.

According to the initial fixture schedule, the Black Stars would have remained in Mongomo to play their next opponent in the last 8 after finishing on top of Group C.

But CAF took the decision for the qualified teams from Group C, Ghana and Algeria, to play their quarter-final matches in the 15,250-capacity Nuevo Estadio de Malabo on Saturday.

This is because the AFCON 2015 Local Organizing Committee insisted that hosting the quarter-final clash between Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia in Ebebiyin could cause a stampede since the venue can only hold 8,000 fans, meaning all the quarter-final matches had to be moved to Malabo and Bata.

“Changing our venue now is difficult but I don’t want to complain. I said that the organization is very good, but I hope they (CAF) would let us know some of the things before they decide. In any case, we would have to play well,” Grant said in a post-match interview.

The former Chelsea Boss had earlier criticized the Local Organizing Committee of the continental tournament over the bad timing of the team’s pre-match press conferences and the team’s bus, which he said moved like a ship.