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0 Former Ghana international Anthony Baffoe has emphasized the need to modernize and effectively manage the country’s stadiums.
Speaking at the JoySports National Sports Dialogue, Baffoe expressed concerns about the poor state of Ghana’s stadia and the tendency to rely on divine intervention rather than finding solutions to problems.
“Sometimes, when you come to the Accra Sports Stadium, there are thousands of cars in the parking lot. So, when there’s an evacuation, there will be catastrophic consequences,” Baffoe said.
“But in Ghana, we always say ‘It shall be well, God is alive’ until something happens.”
Baffoe outlined his ideas for modernizing Ghana’s stadiums, including:
- Providing a dressing room for every pitch.
- Providing decent parking areas for easy access
- Ensuring properly designed exit and entry gates for crowd control
- Implementing FIFA, CAF, and tailored policies for venue management
- Ensuring adequate evacuation gates for different stadium capacities. He cited examples: If you are in a 3,000 seater you should have at least four to six evacuation gates.
- 5,000 seater, you should have at least 6 evacuation gates.
- 10,000 seater plus capacity, you should have at least 10 more gates with emergency exits.
- A tailored stadium evacuation plan can enhance safety. Improve stadium security to limit unauthorized access.
The National Sports Dialogue featured speakers, including Right to Dream founder Tom Vernon, international sports consultant Magnus Rex Danquah, and Baffoe, with the Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, in attendance.
