Baba Yara Stadium 74% Complete
Work on the rehabilitation of Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, one of the four venues selected for the CAN 2008 tournament, is progressing steadily.
The 40,000 all-seater capacity stadium being rehabilitated by CONSAR Company Limited, a construction firm in Kumasi, is about 74 percent complete.
At a press conference in Kumasi, Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, chairman of the Kumasi venue organizing committee, allayed fears of soccer fans who were thinking that the stadium would not be completed on time for the tournament.
“I am hopeful that the stadium will be completed as scheduled for the tournament,” he assured.
To ensure successful hosting of the tournament in the city, he said KVOC was planning to meet with the District Chief Executives (DCEs) in the region to create awareness on the significance of the Ghana CAN 2008.
The KVOC is a sub-set of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for CAN 2008, having the mandate to act on its behalf.
Professor Adarkwa said it was the supreme desire of the KVOC to ensure good sanitation in the Metropolis as well as hospitable attitude toward visiting soccer fans.
Touching on work so far, he said facilities at the stadium would no doubt meet FIFA standards, adding that the new running tracks yet to be created would as well meet Olympic standards.
The Baba Yara Sports Stadium, formerly called Kumasi Sports Stadium, was built in 1956 and opened in 1959. It had its first rehabilitation works in 1977 and a face-lift in 1999.
Continuing, the KVOC chairman expressed satisfaction at work so far done at the stadium, a development which drew praises from the CAF inspection team that stormed Ghana recently to inspect the various stadia being rehabilitated for the tournament.
According to him, the stadium when completed, would have drainage field systems, four flood lights with each having 75 bulbs, a video score board, communication systems, shops and exit gates, as well as medical and doping centres.
Among the other facilities that would be made available at the stadium upon its completion, Professor Adarkwa noted, were a restaurant, gymnasium, police post with two cells, external fencing, a tennis court and a new VIP stand.
He mentioned Paa Joe Stadium, Opoku Ware School Park, Prempeh College Park and Wesco park as training pitches for the tournament, adding that these venues would be rehabilitated to fit international standards.
As part of efforts to ensure sound sanitation and beautification of the immediate surroundings of the stadium, he hinted all unauthorized structures would be demolished.
He urged all house owners around the stadium to start painting their houses, since in about six months' time, the metropolis would be flooded by sports fans across the continent and beyond.
On security, Professor Adarkwa said personnel of the police and the military would be dispatched to the various hotels, training grounds and the stadium during the tournament, adding that if need be, the services of private security personnel would be engaged.