Sheikh Tophic Sienu, media officer of the Black Starlets, has explained why Ghana’s U17 team travelled by road to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for the WAFU B U17 tournament.

According to Sienu, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) initially planned for the team to travel by air but received no response from the government after submitting its budget for the trip.

He explained that the technical team subsequently decided to move the players to Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region before continuing their journey to Ouagadougou by road.

“The GFA had planned for the Black Starlets to travel to Ouagadougou for the WAFU B U17 tournament via flight, but after the GFA presented a budget to the government, there was no response,” he said.

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“So the coaches decided to move the team to Bolgatanga, where we have a technical base, then continue to Ouagadougou, which is about a two-hour drive. So it’s not like the team moved straight from Accra to Ouagadougou via bus,”he added.

Sienu added that the team’s camping in Bolgatanga had been beneficial, particularly in preparing the players for the weather conditions in Burkina Faso.

He said the decision to camp in the Upper East Regional capital was intended to help the players acclimatise, as the weather there is similar to what they are expected to encounter in Burkina Faso, where excessive heat has been reported.

“The camping in Bolga has been very useful. We moved there for acclimatisation purposes. The weather in Bolga is similar to the one in Burkina Faso. We’re told there’s excessive heat in Burkina Faso at the moment,” he added.

PAH/EB

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