Black Stars matches to be moved to other venues

The Black Stars will consider alternating matches between the key cities in Ghana with venues like Accra, Sekondi, Tamale and Kumasi in the hunt to host matches of the senior national football team, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed.

This is in response to the hostile reception the Black Stars got in their opening 2015 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday when they played Uganda and drew 1-1 in Kumasi on Saturday.

Some of the fans cheered the opposing team when they scored and the Black Stars were consistently booed during the match and as they departed the venue.

The Kumasi Stadium has for many years been the preferred venue for all the Black Stars major games including World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers.

With the hostile reception they got at the Kumasi Sports Stadium the GFA says Black Stars home matches will now be alternated between the national stadiums in the country.

“Our policy is to rotate venues for all national team matches,” GFA Communications Director, Ibrahim Sannie Daara explained on Sunday.

“Our original plan was to play the game against Uganda in Accra, but you know there are problems with the scoreboard and other issues at the Accra Sports Stadium so we were forced to come to Kumasi.

“Kumasi is not ruled out from Black Stars matches in future but other venues in the country will also get the chance of hosting the national team.”

The Kumasi Sports Stadium was half empty minutes before the Uganda game, even though the situation improved as the match progressed.

Sports analysts however say the attendance was one of the poorest recorded at the stadium for a Black Stars game since it was renovated in 2008.

Days before the qualifier against Uganda, the fans served notice they would boycott the game because of the Stars’ poor showing at the world cup in Brazil and the sheer disrespect they displayed against the Ghanaian tax payer.

The Sports Ministry in response, announced that entry into the stadium for the game would be free but back-tracked on their decision following concerns raised by National Security officials.

Prices for the tickets were instead reduced in a move which officials claim was to “win back the love of the supporters”