The Ashanti Regional Director of the National Sports Authority, Joshua Mensah, is expected to appear before the Minister of Youth and Sports in Accra today [Monday].
This follows his comments indicating that the Baba Yara Stadium was to be closed to sporting activities on Saturdays, to make way for funerals and other social activities. This he said was a viable way of raising adequate funds to maintain the facility which is fast deteriorating.
[contextly_sidebar id=”gE1cGmcBD0cbaubtKFqZEG6fHrZDXNva”]In a statement signed by Deputy Sports Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, Joshua Mensah will be made to explain why “he should not be sanctioned for making public comments of such serious nature without authorization.”
Mr. Mensah had received a lot of backlash after he indicated to journalists that, it had become necessary to rent the stadium out for funerals and other social activities to enable them to raise funds to maintain the fast-deteriorating facility.
Mr. Mensah at the time, also revealed that his decision had the backing of the Director General of the NSA, Robert Sarfo Mensah, a claim that was subsequently denied by the Director.
Contradictions from authority
The Director-General of the National Sports Authority, Robert Sarfo Mensah, said no official directive was given to reserve the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi for funerals.
Mr. Sarfo Mensah however admitted that, some unofficial discussions had taken place on the matter and that the Authority had considered the move.
Poorly maintained Baba Yara stadium fast deteriorating
These developments came on the back of Citi News report exposing how sections of the stadium have almost been turned into a dump site with broken seats and stained bathrooms combining to give the stadium a generally repulsive smell.
It is currently Ghana’s largest stadium with a seating capacity of 40,528.
However, its current state is one of a terribly maintained facility that lacks the capacity to be described as a standard sporting facility.
The stadium was originally built by the United African Company (UAC) in 1957, and inaugurated as a designated football pitch in 1959.
Its stands were constructed in 1971 before the entire stadium was rebuilt in 1977. In 2004 under President John Agyekum Kufuor, it was renamed after Kumasi-born footballer, Baba Yara.
The last major work on the facility was in 2008 ahead of Ghana’s hosting of the CAN 2008 tournament.
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By: Bobbie Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana