Former Ghana President John Dramani Mahama has blamed the deteriorating state of stadiums on corruption within the current government.
As the opposition leader ahead of the December 7 elections, Mahama expressed concern over the recent CAF ban on the Baba Yara Stadium, which was deemed unfit to host international matches.
This decision has forced the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to explore alternative venues outside the country for upcoming home games.
During a campaign stop, Mahama described the situation as a national embarrassment and questioned the government's failure to maintain key stadiums despite awarding renovation contracts.
"For the first time in our history, CAF says we don't have any stadium where we can play international matches, so we have to play our games in other countries," he remarked. "It was only recently the government handed out big contracts to companies to renovate the stadiums, so what happened?"
Mahama’s comments follow allegations by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who revealed that over GHS 85 million has been spent on stadium maintenance over the last five years, with no visible results.
Ablakwa further claimed that more than a third of these payments were made to a company linked to Kelvin Ofori-Atta, a relative of President Akufo-Addo and former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The National Sports Authority (NSA) has since closed the Baba Yara, Accra, and Cape Coast stadiums for maintenance purposes.