Accra Sports Stadium Set for Renovation Closure, Announces Minister for Sports

Ghana’s Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has declared that the Accra Sports Stadium will close for extensive renovations after the forthcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Chad.

This decision comes in response to increasing worries about the declining condition of Ghana’s sports infrastructure, which has recently resulted in temporary bans on holding international matches.

In a recent interview with 3Sports, Adams emphasised the urgent need to shut down the Accra Sports Stadium following the World Cup qualifier against Chad on Friday, describing the venue as a “mess” that requires substantial refurbishment to achieve international standards.

“We must close the Accra Sports Stadium for refurbishment to bring it up to standard,” Adams asserted confidently.

“Our assessment indicated that engineers advised against using the entire upper stand towards Independence Square due to integrity issues, meaning supporters won’t be allowed there,” he added.

Inspections of the stadium uncovered significant structural flaws and safety concerns. Adams pointed out the deteriorating condition of essential infrastructure during his evaluation of the facility.

“While assessing the floodlights, we noticed that the knobs holding the lights are completely rusty. The stadium is essentially in a shambles.”

The Accra Sports Stadium was last significantly renovated in 2018 in preparation for that year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament held in Ghana. Since then, it has fallen into disrepair, with various issues now demanding immediate attention.

Although some improvements were made in anticipation of the upcoming match, including upgrades to the pitch, dressing rooms, sanitary facilities, and air-conditioning, more thorough work is essential to completely restore the venue.

The stadium had already been closed for several months following Ghana’s final match against Niger last November in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

In a strategic approach to tackle the complications surrounding Ghana’s stadiums, Adams announced plans to renovate the Cape Coast Stadium, reserving it solely for the national team, the Black Stars.

“Among our key stadium facilities, Cape Coast is the one where we can carry out quick refurbishments without significant expense, and we won’t allow any clubs to play there; it will be exclusively a national stadium for the Black Stars for the time being.”

According to Adams, the intention is to have the Cape Coast Stadium ready ahead of Ghana’s next round of World Cup qualifiers.

“We aim to prepare it for the September and October window when we will play the next qualifiers. Following that, we can also close Accra and Kumasi to ensure they are refurbished for competitions.”

The Cape Coast Stadium, which has a capacity of 15,000 seats, has not hosted an international football match since November 2021 when Ghana achieved a 1-0 victory over South Africa in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Since that time, it has failed to meet CAF stadium licensing standards, falling into neglect just like many other major sporting facilities in the country.

The situation has been further complicated by CAF and FIFA’s restrictions on the use of the Baba Yara Stadium for international matches, leaving Ghana with limited venues for hosting competitive fixtures.

The Black Stars are set to take on Chad in their matchday 5 fixture of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday, March 21st, before heading to Morocco for their matchday 6 encounter against Madagascar on March 24th.