Pull down the Accra International Conference Center, better structure for events

The Accra Sports Stadium was built for football and other sporting activities and games. These are the primary functions of sports stadia the world over.

In Ghana, we appear to have changed this phenomenon. Instead of football and other related sporting activities taking center stage with respect to the nation’s Wembley, the Accra Sports Stadium has become a center for comedy shows, concerts, and other entertainment events.

Accra Hearts of Oak was forced to play their home league match in Cape Coast simply because the Accra Sports Stadium which serves as their home was rented out to event organizers for musical shows by the National Sports Authority.

The field was badly damaged and couldn’t support the playing of football after the few nights of concerts and other events, hence the need for Hearts of Oak to have their home match at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.

It is trite knowledge that the Accra International Conference Center is not only aged and archaic but also defective and could collapse if it continues to be subjected to pressures by event organizers.

It is against this backdrop that we have to embrace the Government’s plan to pull down the AICC and rebuild it. We must not continue to rape the Accra Sports Stadium with non-football or non-sporting activities.

We can liberate the stadium by building a better and more spacious conference center where we can host such big events. We spend huge sums of monies renovating the Accra Sports Stadium after such events.

Even if the profits accrued exceed the maintenance costs, it is still not worth it since the stadium is meant for football and its related activities and not concerts.