The terrible state of the pitch at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium could not go unnoticed as both Ghana and Angola struggled to play on the uneven surface.
After the game, coach Otto Addo, despite not blaming the pitch for Ghana’s 1-0 defeat to Angola, said that the performance of his team could have been better if the pitch was not in such poor condition.
“I don’t want to blame the loss on the pitch, even though it wasn’t in good shape,” Addo said. “Against the Central African Republic, the pitch was also poor, but we managed to win. We simply have to do better.”
While Otto Addo was diplomatic, his counterpart from Angola was not, as he expressed his disappointment with the state of the pitch at the Baba Yara Stadium.
“We always tried to play football, but the pitch was difficult,” Goncalves said. “A country like Ghana deserves a better stadium, a better pitch for football. They have such talented players.”
On social media, Ghanaians have been seething as they call out the National Sports Authority for not properly maintaining the pitch.
They are appealing to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to ban the Black Stars from playing their games at home as there is no standardized pitch in the country.
Some of the Black Stars players have also been counselled to reject call-ups for home matches, hoping such a move will propel the authorities to address the situation.
Read some of the reactions below:
Shame. pic.twitter.com/pf21pRYhAN
— nana aba (@thenanaaba) September 6, 2024
Take the Black Stars to Côte d’Ivoire if that’s what it takes to get them to play on a quality pitch. That Baba Yara pitch is disgraceful.
— Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo (@Fentuo_) September 5, 2024
Just look at the nature of the pitch at the Baba Yara Stadium 🏟️ 🤦 pic.twitter.com/jNrp9vSd3Z
— Fancy Di Maria (@FancyDiMaria_) September 5, 2024
Home advantage was spectacularly turned into home disadvantage by the bad Baba Yara pitch. Observe how the bobble of the ball resulted in the poor clearance leading to the Angola goal. pic.twitter.com/aW2fiNHMq5
— Samuel Bartels (@sammybartels) September 5, 2024
I Dey blame CAF tho cos that conditional approval no dey make sense.. Ban Ghana football until they fix everything.. How can you risk the careers of footballers like that? Apeetorr
— Kwadwo Sheldon (@kwadwosheldon) September 5, 2024
At this point I don’t blame Ghana for hosting games on such terrible pitches. I blame CAF, they are lazy and dishonest. Otherwise why and how did they approve this pitch to host any kind of professional game? This is shameful.
— SITSO (@OfficialSitso) September 5, 2024
I can’t believe @CAF_Online approved that potato farm of a pitch. No pitch in Ghana should host international games until the Sports Authorities learn some sense!
— alex. (@doncookiess) September 5, 2024
CAF shouldn’t allow us to play in Ghana again until we fix this pitch. This nonsense must stop 🛑
— Felix Romark (@FelixRomark) September 5, 2024
EK
