Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif has confirmed that government will not be able to construct the 50,000 capacity stadium at Borteyman to host the 2023 Africa Games as a result of time constraints.
In October 2020, at the inauguration of the Local Organising Committee for the Games, President Akufo-Addo announced that land had been secured to put up a stadium in Borteyman to host the games.
The President said the facility would be converted into a University for Sports and Development after the successful hosting of the games.
But, answering questions on the floor of parliament on Wednesday, Mustapha Ussif announced that government will not be able to construct the full stadium in time for the games and will instead focus on building essential facilities on the land to complement the Legon Stadium.
He explained that the government will rather inject capital into renovating existing facilities across the country for the 13th edition of the Africa Games.
“The plan adopted was to construct an Olympic Stadium complex at Borteyman, unfortunately, this plan could not materialise due to the onset of Covid-19,” he said.
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“The pandemic delayed the start of the procurement process for the construction of this required facility for the game.”
“Due to time constraints, various options were reviewed, some of the facilities for the refurbishment reviewed include, the Accra Sports Stadium, the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Cape Coast Stadium, the Winneba College and the Legon Stadium.
“After careful study of the timelines, the Ministry in consultation with the local organizing committee has adopted a hybrid approach to construct the project in phases, by leveraging on existing facilities at the University of Ghana and build other facilities that are not available but are requirements for the hosting of the games.”
The uncompleted University of Ghana Stadium will now be the centre of the games, with adjoining facilities such as a warm-up area and many more set to be added to the stadium to host the multi-sport event in two years time.
The 13th edition of the Africa Games, formerly known as the All African Games would involve 54 participating countries and 25 sporting disciplines.