Ghana’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Somalia will be played at the Essipong Sports Stadium in Sekondi on Thursday, November 12, after the venue received temporary approval from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kurt Okraku confirmed the decision to MPs on Wednesday, November 4, when the GFA Executive Council met Parliament’s Select Committee on Sports.
Kick-off is scheduled for 3pm GMT, according to CAF’s fixtures for Matchdays 3 and 4. Somalia’s designated home match against Ghana will take place on Monday, November 16, also at 3pm GMT, although the venue has not yet been announced.
The decision resolves a disagreement over where the first match would be staged. The National Sports Authority (NSA) had said on Tuesday that its official correspondence listed Accra, while the GFA had been seeking to move the fixture to Essipong.
CAF has not granted the stadium full certification because several licensing requirements remain incomplete, according to JoyNews. Recent renovation work included the roof, seating, toilets, VIP stand and scoreboard.
Outstanding requirements include enlarging the dressing rooms to provide 24 lockers for each team and installing water heaters. The stadium must also improve its pitch drainage and irrigation.
CAF is additionally seeking CCTV, an automated system for managing entry or monitoring attendance, and upgrades to crowd control, emergency evacuation procedures, security and media facilities.
The press area still has foldable plastic chairs. CAF wants reliable internet for reporters, a better conference room, a permanent photographers’ area and seated media positions behind the goals with power and Wi-Fi.
Thursday’s fixture will be only the second competitive match 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 Essipong since October. The stadium, along with the Accra Sports Stadium, is central to the authority’s plan to renovate five major stadiums by the end of 2027.
Somalia cannot host the tie in its own country because it does not have a CAF-approved stadium. As a result, both matches will be played in Ghana, meaning the Black Stars will not 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 over Somalia would take them to six points.
Cote d’Ivoire and The Gambia, who lead the group with six points each, face one another twice during the same window – in Bouake on November 12 and Bakau on November 17.
Only the top two teams in Group C will qualify for the finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, which will run from June 19 to July 17, 2027, according to CAF.
Ghanaian reports disagree over whether Somalia’s home fixture 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 director-general Prof. Emmanuel Osei Sarpong said in October that he preferred Essipong to allow the Accra pitch time to recover.
The GFA has opened media accreditation for the Essipong match. Applications, submitted by email with a recent passport photograph, must arrive by 5pm GMT on Monday, November 9. Late applications or those without photographs will not be considered.
The media tribune has capacity for 150 people. Each television station may nominate three representatives, radio stations two, and newspapers or news websites one.
Accreditation tags will be available on November 10 from 9am to 4pm at the Sports Writers Association of Ghana secretariat at the Accra Sports Stadium, or from 9am to 5pm at the NSA secretariat at Essipong.
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 urged the coaches to take a bold approach and select local players for the two matches.
