Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, has raised concerns about the poor condition of the Accra Sports Stadium pitch.

He believes that the state of the pitch makes it difficult for footballers to effectively control the ball, which impacts the overall quality of play.

Despite the poor quality of the pitch, Vanderpuye is relieved that no participants in the Democracy Cup game sustained injuries.

“The pitch is not as friendly as we would have liked it to be. It was a real struggle to control the ball, but we managed to some extent. We should be thankful that there were no serious injuries. It was a fun experience, and we all enjoyed ourselves,” citinewsroom.com quoted him as saying.

The first edition of the Democracy Cup football match took place on Wednesday, July 18, 2024, at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The event featured a match between Members of Parliament and staff of the legislative house against former players of Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars, as a curtain-raiser.

The parliamentary select side won 3-1 against the former professionals. Patrick Boateng opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, Sulley Muntari equalized in the 64th minute, and Mensah scored twice in the 77th and 85th minutes.

The day concluded with Kumasi Asante Kotoko defeating Accra Hearts of Oak 2-1 to win the inaugural cup.

The Democracy Cup is an annual event aimed at promoting and consolidating Ghana’s parliamentary democracy through sports.

SB/OGB