Ghana cast off venue plans over COVID uptick

Article posted by Coliseum, August 6^th, 2021

Image: Ghana Olympic Committee (Twitter)

Ghana has cast aside plans to build a new Olympic Sports Complex to host the All-African Games in 2023, according to a Parliament statement made recently.

‘CGTN Africa’ stated that the country’s Youth and Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif told the Parliament that rather than build a new facility at Borteyman near the Eastern port City of Tema, the West African country would refurbish the abandoned stadium at the University of Ghana ahead of the All-African Games.

The 13^th edition of the African Games is expected to be held in three Cities in Ghana in the year 2023 on dates yet to be confirmed. This will be the second time in history that the games will be decentralized in a process that started in the previous edition held in Morocco.

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Ghana will play host to 54 participating nations and regions in the 13^th All-African Games to be held in 2023.

‘CGTN Africa’ further stated that the Minister attributed the change in plan to time constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Delta variant of which is again casting its evil eye on the world.

Added Ussif, “The initial plan was to construct an Olympic Stadium complex at Borteyman, but unfortunately, this plan cannot materialize as COVID continues to torment the world.”

He continued, “After careful study of the timelines, the Ministry, in consultation with the local organizing committee, adopted a hybrid approach to leverage existing facilities at the University of Ghana and put up other auxiliary facilities required for hosting the Games.”

The Minister, however, assured the Parliament of the Government’s commitment to bring to shape the entire available infrastructure for the Games.

However, he added that “Ghana remains committed to hosting the 2023 Games and would utilize new facilities and renovate others for the competition.”

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