By Amaechi Agbo
The Match 25th 2022 World Cup play-off cracker between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Super Eagles of Nigeria will hold at a neutral venue.in Morocco or Benin Republic
World football governing body, FIFA have directed the Ghana Football Association, GFA to choose either Morocco or Benin Republic as their alternative venue for the match.
FIFA’s decision came after Nigerian Football Federation, NFF submitted a complaint to CAF over the poor state of the Cape Coast Stadium pitch to host the qualifier.
The Cape Coast 15, 000 capacity Stadium was hugely damaged after the West Africa country recently held their 65th Independence anniversary in the stadium.
Pictures emerging from the stadium thereafter showed that the playing surface have been hugely affected and will impede the flow of football if the game is allowed to hold there.
In February, Confederation of Africa Football, CAF rejected GFA’s request to have the game venue changed stressing that the request came after the 3 months deadline for such request to be submitted have elapsed.
CAF had insisted that the only option available for Ghana at that point in time was to take the high profile match to neutral ground, preferably a neighbouring country.
“The FIFA World Cup 2022 preliminary competition regulations in its article 21 venues, kick-off times and training sessions stipulate that “The venues of matches shall be set by the host association and/or by the confederation, as applicable, and the matches may only be played in stadiums that have been inspected and approved by the confederation concerned.
“The opponents and the FIFA general secretariat shall be notified by the host association and/or by the confederation, as applicable, at least three months before the match in question is due to be played,” read a statement from the continent’s ruling body in February.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
