Journalists Quiz TVOC Of Ghana CAN 200

The Tamale Venue Organizing Committee (TVOC) of the Ghana CAN 2008 football tournament has been answering questions from journalists regarding challenging issues about general organization of the tournament. Some of the issues raised by journalists included poor co-ordination between the respective teams that are based in Tamale and journalists.

Journalists lamented over inadequate information flow especially from the various teams with respect to their news conference periods. In response, the TVOC Media Officer, Earl Samual admitted the challenge and pledged his outfit?s preparedness to tackle the issue with the necessary alacrity. Another issue that came up strongly especially from some foreign journalists was inaccessibility of some areas in the stadium such as the "mid zone", but Mr Bolina Saaka, the TVOC Chairman, said due to misuse of the area by non-journalists, the security were given strict orders to maintain sanity at the mid zone hence the mishap some journalists might have encountered.

Some foreign journalists expressed their unhappiness with the early closing of restaurants in Tamale. "last night after 22:00 GMT we combed the whole town but could not find food", a Tunisian journalist lamented. Mr Issaka Goodman the TVOC Vice Chairman said prior to the tournament, his outfit had meetings with and trainings for the restaurant operators and food vendors in town and were all educated on the matter but said the TVOC would take up the challenge and address it accordingly.

Another thorny issue brought up by journalists was ticketing as the stadium never got full yet many people wanted tickets to buy. The TVOC Chairman expressed concerned and said his outfit could do little considering the time the tickets reach Tamale. ?The tickets reach Tamale a day before a match hence the late sale of the tickets?, he said. According to him, measures have been put in place to forestall recurrence.