The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rejected a request from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to name a new stadium for their 2022 Fifa World Cup play-off against Nigeria in March.
The game was initially billed for the Cape Coast Stadium.
However, the GFA has another idea because that venue would host the country’s Independence Day celebration on March 6.
However, Caf turned down the request.
“The Fifa World Cup 2022 preliminary competition regulations in its article 21 venues, kick-off times and training sessions stipulate 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. 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,” read a statement from the continent’s ruling body.
“24th of December 2021 was the deadline set by Caf for the participating national associations to select and communicate to Caf their preferred venue for the play-off round of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers.
“On the 23rd of December 2021, GFA informed Caf that Cape Coast Stadium was the venue selected for the play-off round of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers.
“Based on the venue selection received from each of the participating national associations, 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 play-off round.”
