Elvis Adjei-Baah, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOY), has said Accra Hearts of Oak, Accra Great Olympics and Inter Allies, agreed on a total closure of the Accra Sports Stadium after a stakeholders meeting in Accra.

The Accra Sports Stadium, which was scheduled as one of the venues for the upcoming Ghana Premier League (GPL), for some clubs in Accra, has been closed down.

The ministry held a stake holders meeting to ascertain the level of closure for the stadium, which had not seen any major rehabilitation since 2008.

In an interview with GNA Sports, Mr. Adjei-Baah noted that the meeting which was held on Friday and Monday bothered on the total closure of the stadium and the alternatives available for the clubs.

“We met with Accra Hearts of Oak, Great Olympics, Inter Allies, Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) Executives, National Sports Authority (NSA) Executives and MOYS and together with the engineer, we came to that conclusion.

“All the three clubs agreed that they would find an alternative after the engineer had cautioned that, the stadium was not safe to entertain football matches as work was still ongoing.

“The risk factors were so much that, it was necessary to find alternatives for the clubs, since the renovation works would be completed by September to make way for the upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) African Women’s Cup slated for Ghana from 17th November to 1st December, 2018.

According to him, the meeting on Monday bothered of finding alternative match venues for the clubs and was confirmed that the Tema Sports Stadium would be used.

“Upon our second meeting, the Tema Sports Stadium was agreed on by these clubs to honour their respective matches.

“There were the El-Wak Sports Stadium and Cape Coast stadium but the later was ruled out because of the distance and the former was ruled out because the cost involved in getting the place ready was too huge.

“Though the Tema Sports Stadium would need some touch ups, it wouldn’t be that much and thus the clubs resorted to use Tema, where the three clubs have agreed to form a committee to assess the cost involved in getting the place ready and make it known to the Sports Ministry to see how best to help” he added.

Mr. Adjei-Baah further thanked the clubs on behalf of the Ministry for their understanding and contribution to the meetings to find a solution to the issue at hand.

“The clubs are key stakeholders, when it comes to our football, so when issues of such nature comes up and it would inconvenience them, it is only reasonable and prudent we engage them and find a lasting solution, so as to make sure the clubs get a good place to use for their matches for Ghana football to progress”.