Nduom Sports Stadium to host WAFU tourney

The Nduom Sports Stadium in Elmina has been selected as one of the two venues to host the West African Football Union (WAFU) competition which kick-starts on 9th September, 2017 and ends on 24th September, 2017.

The Nduom Stadium was selected as a replacement for the Essipong Stadium in Sekondi, Western Region, which originally was going to be the venue to host Group A, comprising Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Guinea, Nigeria and Guinea Bissau.

The decision to host the tournament in Elmina was borne out of safety and security concerns for players and spectators after an inspection to both stadia by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) spokesperson, Alhaji Sannie Daara, and President of the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Mr. Tony Baffoe, a fortnight ago.

GFA President, Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi, and the PFAG, Mr. Tony Baffoe, also visited the facility this week to give their final approval for the use of the stadium that will host the last round of group games which will be played simultaneously at both stadia.

The historic selection of the Nduom Sports Complex for the WAFU tournament will mark the first time in the history of football competition in this country that a private stadium has been chosen as a host venue for an international tournament.

The Nduom Sports Stadium, home to the Fearsome Elmina Sharks, recently received a major facelift when the contractors working on the venue installed scoreboards and floodlights.

Also completed are two dressing rooms for all participating teams, officials’ changing rooms, the press briefing area as well as press box for live coverage and commentary

The Essipong Stadium was yanked off the hosting rights for the tournament after officials detected the stadium has deteriorated beyond immediate repairs in time to host the tournament.

Built in 2008 to host the Confederation of African Nations tournament, the venue has not received any facelift as the facility keeps wasting away due to the ocean tides from the Atlantic Ocean.