Big Blow for Ghana As CAF Bans Baba Yara Sports Stadium From Hosting International Matches

• CAF has removed the Baba Yara Sports Stadium from the list of approved stadiums for hosting international matches
• According to the Confederations of African Football, the state of Baba Yara Sports Stadium is below their standard
• Ghana will now have to play home matches at a neutral venue ahead of the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

Confederations of African Football (CAF) has placed a ban on the Baba Yara Sports Stadium from hosting international matches, the Ghana Football Association has announced.

The Kumasi-based stadium hosted the 2022 World Cup play-off between the Black Stars of Ghana Nigeria's Super Eagles last month.

In a letter signed by CAF Development Officer Raul Chipenda, sighted by Sports Brief, the African football governing body has removed the Baba Yara stadium from the list of approved stadiums for Senior Category “A” matches.

CAF Statement on Baba Yara Stadium

‘’Following the one match approval given by CAF for the use of Baba Yara Sports Stadium (Kumasi) in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers playoff round matches under the condition that specific points were to be corrected in the stadium, based on the report received from the CAF inspector that was onsite, we regret to inform you that the improvements made are still not up to the standards required by CAF to host Senior International A matches.

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Unfortunately, the level of implementation of all the CAF remarks in the stadium were not satisfactory, including the quality of the equipment’s and materials used in the different functional areas in the stadium.

As a result of the reported situation, we have taken the following decision that the Baba Yara Sports Stadium is automatically removed from the list of CAF approved stadiums and will only be approved for any subsequent CAF/FIFA international senior national teams matches and CAF Men’s inter-clubs competitions following the implementation of all the CAF remarks.”

Ghana Paired With Madagascar, Angola & Central Africa Republic

Sports Brief earlier reported that Ghana have drawn Madagascar, Angola and Central African Republic in the qualifiers to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Black Stars, who have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, must fight for a qualification slot in Group E.

None of Ghana's opponents qualified for the last Africa Cup of Nations which was held in Cameroon.