Worries over ACN training pitches

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has urged Ghana to speed up work on training grounds earmarked for the 2008 African Cup of Nations finals. A three-man Caf inspection team has spent the last week assessing Ghana's readiness for the tournament that gets underway in January.

"The training pitches are an area of concern for us and we have informed the Ghanaian officials," said Tunisian Slim Aloulou, the head of the inspection team.


"We're worried that with the pace of work, they cannot be completed on time and have advised that the Ghana officials put pressure on the contractors and also make alternative plans.


"The thing with training pitches is that the grass needs to be firmly in place by the time the tournament comes around. We didn't see that."


Ghana is supposed to provide sixteen training pitches in all for the sixteen team competition and the country's Minister of Sports Dominic Fobih admitted they are encountering problems.

"We are aware that there are issues with the training grounds and for us too it has been a major source of concern," he said.


"But we will work on and are confident it will be all fine when the tournament comes around."


The training pitches aside, the Caf team were very happy with Ghana's readiness to host the rest of the continent.


"We have seen four beautiful stadiums and they could even host games tomorrow," Aloulou said.