Essipong stadium to miss out on WAFU duties

Organisers of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Africa Cup of Nations have hinted of moving games from the Essipong Sports Stadium in Sekondi to the Ndoum Sports Centre at Elmina.

A close source to the Local Organising Committee revealed to Class Sports that organisers will be forced to make the change due to issues with the roofing at the Essipong Stadium.

“The roofing is not in the best of conditions and we are racing against time to complete that. We had already approached Groupe Ndoum over the use of their facility during the competition and now have to speed things up concerning the use of the place as a match venue. The organisers did not also seem to be happy with the other options for varied reasons,” a source told Class Sports.

The Essipong Stadium was positioned to play host to eight nations competing at the games but this development could mean all 16 competing nations will honour their games in the Central Region as Obuasi, Tamale and Kumasi have been discarded as alternate venues.

The Essipong Stadium was built as one of the four venues for the CAN 2008 African Cup of Nations, but just like the various stadia built for that event, poor maintenance culture has seen it in the grip of deterioration.

The Black Stars team B were scheduled to take on Gambia in the 2017 WAFU tournament opener on 9 September in Sekondi.