The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama has described the pitch ban by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the biggest disgrace in the history of the country.
During his campaign tour, John Mahama lamented the huge monies the ruling government has borrowed from other countries and is unable to pay and in the wake of these huge debts unable to have a pitch for an African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, describing their actions as disgraceful.
Commenting on the unfortunate development he deemed as a historical disgrace he said “The NPP has disgraced us as a country. First, they have borrowed a lot of money which has turned into debts we can’t pay. These actions of the NPP have become like a historical disgrace to the country.”
“The latest news now is that CAF has banned Ghana from hosting AFCON qualifiers because of the bad nature of our football pitches. So Ghanaian footballers have to travel all the way to other countries just to play football. This is the biggest disgrace in the history of Ghana.” He claimed
It would be recalled last week that, CAF announced that it had withdrawn the conditional approval for the Baba Yara Sports Stadium to host Black Stars qualifying home matches.
CAF, in a statement to the GFA, mentioned the poor nature of the pitch, drainage, and other issues as the basis for the decision to withdraw the approval.
As a result of the ban, Ghana is likely to face Sudan in a crucial AFCON qualifying doubleheader in October, with Togo or Côte d’Ivoire being the likely venue for Ghana’s home leg in the fixture.