“Ghana is capable of hosting the African Cup of Nations” says Sports Minister Isaac Kwame Asiamah in Koforidua while inspecting works on a Youth Center Project.
This would surely reignite the debate as to whether the nation should put in a bid on the back of ‘successfully’ hosting the African Women’s Championships. I recall the comments of Local Organising Committee (LOC) boss Madam Freda Prempeh following the decision by CAF to strip Cameroon of the 2019 event. She was more than emphatic as to whether Ghana was prepared to bail out the continent. Hear her.
“We are hoping, if they (CAF) can give Ghana the opportunity to host AFCON again, we will be hosting about 24 countries. I believe that with the Accra Sports Stadium re-touched now, we have the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, we have the Essipong Stadium, which needs some renovation. In the Ashanti Region, we can talk of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, we can talk of Len Clay Sports Stadium. Speaking of training pitches, Paa Joe Sports Stadium can be used. We have Prempeh College. We have one at Opoku Ware (Senior High School). In Accra, we have one at Achimota that can be worked on. El-Wak Stadium has been worked on, PRESEC Legon Park has been worked on. We have another stadium at Tamale, the Aliu Mahama Stadium. So, we can conveniently talk about six, seven or eight stadia that can host the tournament.
“There is no harm in trying. Even if we are given the opportunity to co-host, we would have moved from one level to another. I don’t see why the Normalization Committee and, therefore, the Ministry of Youth and Sports can’t put in a try.”
History is always a massive guide when it comes to hosting huge sporting events the globe over. I recall the story of Mexico stepping in to bail Colombia for the 86 World Cup. The latter had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially resigned in 1982. Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983. Here in Africa, Zambia had to withdraw from hosting the 1988 African Nations Cup because of a lack of funds. The earlier hosts may have been capable hosts but for unforeseen substances never mind the fact that they had won the bids to do so. The economic profiles of a country is key to the hosting of such gargantuan events as decision makers, herein being FIFA, IOC, CAF etc are keen on governmental guarantees with a huge emphasis on funding for the event and not ignoring others like security, accommodation, transport and more. The days where sports served as a massive tourism tool are long gone with some host countries still struggling with debts. Greece (Athens 2004) readily comes to mind. In recent times, locals have vehemently opposed the hosting of such events as costs continue to spiral from original budgets. The Colombians and Zambians were probably clever to realize that. I cannot say same for the likes of Angola (2010). Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were particular happy to have been afforded second chances in 2015 and 2017 after the co-hosted in 2012. I understand the stadia in Oyem and to a large extent Port Gentil (Gabon), Ebebiyin and Mongomo (Equatorial Guinea) have been poorly maintained. These countries relied on petrol dollars to bail CAF. Surely Ghana does not have petrol dollars to do that. Dr KK Sarpong and the team at GNPC may give us a brief at some point on that. We would see.
Madam Prempeh eloquently highlighted the nations’ credentials with that fine infrastructural profile. Yes we do have the facilities in Accra, Cape, Kumasi, Sekondi, Tamale and possibly Obuasi. Question though is whether these facilities are off appreciable standard by CAF for the hosting of a 24-team tournament. Accra as a Host City is probably good to go for a tourney which is scheduled for June next year. And when I say host city I am not talking up the Stadium alone but enough training facilities for all 4 teams that would be hosted here. Hotels (averagely 4-star), transport, health centres for any emergencies, Media and more.
The others, to be brutally honest, are far off staging the event even with the most sophisticated engineers touching base to fine tune things. Cape Coast would averagely pass with the AWCON and the WAFU in mind. Decent hotels, little or no traffic for easy movement and accessibility, decent training facilities but still has loads of work to be done on the quality of the pitch and that of the designated training pitches. Green Grass Technology would need unmatched skill and experience to make things happen.
Kumasi Sports Stadium is far off from hosting this tourney. The pitch, the washrooms, the stands, branding, score board all need an upgrade. They are good with accommodation (Tulip, Golden Beam, Georgia and co). The training pitches at Paa Joe, Owass and co all need massive upgrade. Security should not be a challenge though. So clearly Kumasi would not be ready in six months.
Tamale has seen little or no action in recent times and would surely need an upgrade. Transport might not be a challenge. Hotels in the third largest city may also need an upgrade if they are to meet a 4-star or 5-star category. Training pitches would also need a significant upgrade just like security with all the chieftaincy issues in the Northern Region which often overstretches the security services.
Obuasi obviously would have the most arduous task to meet up the standards. From the match venue itself, training facilities and accommodation they are surely some time away from playing the role of a host city. The thinking for many out there is that once the match venue is ready, a host city is good to go. Sorry, that is not the case. Other indicators as stated above all together puts a city in good stead or otherwise.
In six months, I honestly think Ghana as a country would not be ready as hosts for a 24-team tourney. My worry though is that with the financial commitments of that size, countries that once considered bidding for this event would probably reconsider their stance. The financial commitments would make it extremely challenging for many a country on the continent where the daily challenges of education, food and health still holds sway. The North Africans (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt) could always do a good job. South Africa on any day would do a great job. Nigeria if they want to. I have doubts about any of the others bordering their budgets with CAN hosting rights when majority of the facilities could become white elephants after the competition. The days when countries like Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, DR Congo and Ethiopia would bid for the tournament is long gone. They do not need that political “looking face” anymore.
I am however hearing that Ghana according to the same Sports Minister Asiamah, would not be submitting a bid. We better not. It would be great but just like the National Cathedral, we do not need that now. Later would do. The hundreds of millions of dollars would better serve other purposes.
Thanks for reading this peace.
The writer Kwame Dwomoh Agyemang is the Head of Sports at Class 91.3fm and a Communications Lecturer at Pentecost University College and GH Media School.
Source:Ghana/ClassFMonline.com/91.3FM