About $1 million needed to stage friendly matches in Ghana – FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi

The general public has been calling for some of the Black Stars test matches to be hosted in Ghana, but the FA insists that doing so will cost them too much

The president of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi has said his outfit needs about $1 million [€694,092] to successfully stage friendly matches for the Black Stars in the country.

This follows calls for the FA to stage some of the national team’s friendly matches in the country in the wake of the cancelled friendly match against Nigeria in London last week due to security concerns.

Speaking to E TV, Nyantakyi sought to explain why the FA has not organised a major friendly in the country for about two and a half years, saying his outfit is constrained financially.

“You must be looking at about $1m in order to be able to successfully stage a game here,” he said. “Or if you can get a friendly team to come here and not demand the payment of appearance fees, then that could mitigate the cost.”

“It’s always due to financial reasons that we are unable to play games here,” he intoned.

Ghana last played a major friendly game in Accra against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia on November 19, 2008 but have since gone globe-trotting on every other Fifa friendly date despite the existence of proper structures to stage such matches in the country.

The four-time African champions, who were losing quarter-finalists at the 2010 Fifa World Cup, have played six friendly matches in London since 2007 - the last game was against the Three Lions of England..

Media reports indicate that the FA bagged $150, 000 [€104,136] as appearance fees for the friendly game against South Korea in June 2011.

Nyantakyi, however, indicated that it would be possible to stage friendly matches in the country with proper marketing strategies.

“It’s feasible. We need to plan and advertise and get sponsorship for that.

“When you play in Accra, it’s like two foreign based teams playing here and you are going to shoulder the burden.

“You have air fares for the two teams, accommodation, feeding and appearance fees,” he noted.

Ghana successfully staged a four-nation tournament prior to hosting the African Cup of Nations in 2008.