Kumasi to host Ghana-Benin return leg

The Baba Yara Stadium will host the return leg of the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) qualifier between Ghana and Benin on July 7.

The local Black Stars would have early on met their West African counterparts in Cotonou in a first leg tie on June 22.

According to our impeccable sources, Benin are expected to arrive Kumasi three days before the match-day and plans are far advanced to have them lodge at the True Vine Lodge located in Ahodwo in the heart of Kumasi as the hosts, the local Black Stars continue to camp in Obuasi.

Ghana and Benin are vying for one of the three slots in Zone West B available for the third edition of the Championship designed for only home-based players of member countries in South Africa next year.

Meanwhile, a 21-man local Black Stars squad will leave Ghana on Wednesday, May 22 for Liberia to participate in a 3-nation tournament which also includes Guinea.

The tournament is being played to commemorate the 50th Anniversary celebration of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Monrovia, Liberia.

It will also be a little more than a decade since the formation of the African Union, which seeks to promote “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena.”

Consequently, the Heads of State declared the year 2013 the Year of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance.

The tournament is to be held from May 24-26. The local Black Stars are expected to return to Ghana by May 28.