Sports Minister frowns on using stadiums for social events

Mr. Mustapha Ussif, the Minister of Youth and Sports, says he has engaged the National Sports Authority (NSA) in stopping the use of the national stadiums for social events.

There was serious agitations by some football fans following the closure of the Accra Sports Stadium for footballing activities by the NSA last December.

Mr. Mustapha Ussif, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Monday, stated categorically that he didn’t order the closure of the stadium for social events to be allowed to take place.

‘The main purpose of our sporting facilities is for us to use those facilities to develop talent and also for competitions, whether national or international.

‘I did not authorise the closure of the sports stadium. I am aware the stadium was closed and my major concern was the pitch.

‘Even though the NSA by law is the authority having the powers to manage all the sporting facilities for us and to ensure they are in good shape, once we have a major tournament coming; the Africa Games and we ha
ve also the Premiership ongoing, my major concern is how much we are getting from these social events that we are giving out these facilities to,’ he said.

The Minister was concerned that the money received from these social events might not be enough to better maintain the facility.

‘It’s something that I have engaged the Director General on that, going forward, this should not be done because, at the end of the day whatever you get from these social events might not be able to maintain the pitch,’ he noted.

Source: Ghana News Agency