In response to complaints regarding the condition of Baba Yara Stadium, Bawa Majeed, the Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority, asked, ironically, whether Angola “were playing in the sky” when they faced Ghana in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Before the game, pictures of the pitch’s deplorable state were making the rounds on social media, drawing attention to it.
Following the match, Ghana’s coach Otto Addo justified center-back Abdul Mumin’s error, saying that the field was “not good” in part.
Angola did not play in the sky’ – NSA
“Are they suggesting that the Angolans were playing in the sky? They are all footballers,” Bawa told Asempa FM.
“Those they assembled to play against the Black Stars are professionals. We assembled our professionals. They all played on the same pitch. So CAF has inspected the pitch and approved it for the game.
Just take a look at what transpired. Even if we aren’t coaches, we still comprehend and watch football. Even the supporters themselves were calling for a change in the sixty-minute mark, as we all suspected and desired.”
Even though his team won, Angola’s head coach Pedro Goncalves criticized the stadium’s condition, saying that “a country like Ghana deserves a better pitch and a better national stadium.”
The five-day ‘Kumuyi’ Church program that took place at the stadium in July was the cause of the bad state of the field.
Ghana is now in third position in Group F after the loss; Angola and Sudan are in first and second place, respectively.
In their next game, which takes place on Monday, September 9, against Niger, the Black Stars will want to recover.