The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rejected Ghana Football Association’s request to name a new venue for next month’s 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs against the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The GFA is seeking to move the game from the Cape Coast Stadium to the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi.
CAF Gives Reason for Turning Ghana Request Down
The reason why they want to change the venue is that the Cape Coast Stadium is set to host Ghana’s independence day celebration which comes up on the 6th of March. CAF rejected the request saying that it fell outside the time allowed for such and as a result, the match must be played in Cape Coast Stadium.
According to FIFA World Cup 2022 preliminary competition regulations in its article 21 venues, it states that kick-off times and training sessions stipulates 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.
It also states that 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. CAF set the 24th of December 2021 as the deadline for the participating national associations to select and communicate to them their preferred venue for the playoff round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers.
On the 23rd of December 2021, Ghana Football Association informed CAF that Cape Coast Stadium was the venue they have selected for the playoff round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers. Based on that, CAF has timely concluded the assessment of the selected stadium(s) and communicated to FIFA the venue decisions for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers playoff round.
