Ghana will play Somalia at the Essipong Sports Stadium in Sekondi on Thursday, November 12, after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) temporarily approved the venue for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
GFA President Kurt Okraku confirmed the decision when the GFA Executive Council met Parliament’s Select Committee on Sports on Wednesday, November 4.
Kick-off is scheduled for 3pm GMT, according to CAF’s fixture list for Matchdays 3 and 4. Somalia’s designated home fixture will take place on Monday, November 16, also at 3pm GMT, although the venue has not yet been confirmed.
The decision resolves a disagreement over the location of the first match. The National Sports Authority (NSA) said on Tuesday that its official letter named Accra, while the Ghana Football Association had been seeking to stage the game at Essipong.
CAF has not granted the stadium full approval because several facilities remain below its licensing requirements, according to JoyNews.
Recent renovation work has included the roof, seating, toilets, VIP stand and scoreboard. However, the dressing rooms still need to be expanded to provide 24 lockers for each team and fitted with water heaters. The pitch also requires functioning drainage and irrigation systems.
Further outstanding requirements include CCTV, an automated entry or spectator-counting system, and improvements to crowd management, emergency evacuation procedures, security and media facilities.
The press area still uses foldable plastic chairs. CAF also requires reliable internet access for reporters, an improved conference room, a permanent photographers’ area and seats with power and Wi-Fi behind the goals.
The fixture will be only the second competitive match to be played at Essipong since its reopening. The first was the Black Queens’ 7-0 Olympic qualifying victory over Mauritius on October 13.
The NSA has been pursuing full CAF certification for the stadium since October. Essipong and the Accra Sports Stadium are central to its plan to renovate five major stadiums by the end of 2027.
Somalia do not have a CAF-approved stadium and therefore cannot host qualifiers in their own country. Both matches will consequently be played in Ghana, meaning the Black Stars will not need to travel during the international window.
Ghana have lost their opening two Group C matches against Cote d’Ivoire and The Gambia and are bottom without a point. Two victories would take them to six points. Cote d’Ivoire and The Gambia, who each have six points, will meet in Bouake on November 12 and Bakau on November 17.
Only the top two teams in Group C will reach the finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, which CAF says will run from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
Ghanaian reports differ over whether Somalia’s home game will remain in Sekondi or move to the Accra Sports Stadium. The NSA said in September that Somalia had requested the Accra venue, while Acting NSA Director-General Prof. Emmanuel Osei Sarpong said in October he preferred Essipong, allowing the Accra Sports Stadium time to recover.
The GFA opened media accreditation for the Essipong match on Wednesday evening. Applications must be emailed with a recent passport photograph by 5pm GMT on Monday, November 9. Late applications or those without photographs will not be considered.
The media tribune holds 150 people. Each television station may nominate three representatives, each radio station two, and each newspaper or news website one. Tags will be issued on November 10 at the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) secretariat at the Accra Sports Stadium from 9am to 4pm, or at the NSA secretariat at Essipong from 9am to 5pm.
The interim technical team led by Black Queens coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren, assisted by Ibrahim Tanko and Godwin Attram, will select the squad. No squad had been announced by Wednesday evening.
Former Black Stars player Odartey Lamptey has called on the coaches to show courage by selecting local players for the two matches.
