Former Managing Director of Hearts Of Oak Neil Armstrong Mortagbe has expressed doubts as to whether Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko have the expertise to manage the Accra Sports Stadium and Baba Yara Sports Stadium if it is handed over to them.
Poor maintenance of sporting facilities in the country has caused many sports pundits to suggest a private-public partnership with regards to management of these facilities.
Several football advocates have suggested the two most glamorous clubs in the country Hearts and Kotoko be made managers of the Accra Sports Stadium and Baba Yara Sports Stadium respectively, because they use it as their home grounds.
Neil Armstrong agreed to calls that the edifice should be privatize, but was doubtful as to whether Hearts and Kotoko have the expertise to keep it in shape.
“Giving Accra Sports Stadium and Baba Yara to Hearts and Kotoko will be good but the question is, can they sustain and maintain the facilities? Do they have the capacity to manage it ?” he quizzed on Happy FM’s Anopa Bosuo Sports.
He opined that, it will be better to hand the facilities to companies with the proper expertise and experience at managing such facilities to manage.
“We should rather get companies or individuals with the knowledge to manage these stadiums to get us profit because that was the initial plan when the stadiums were being constructed,” Mr. Motagbe said.
The Accra Sports Stadium was recently renovated to host the 2018 African Women’s Championship. It was exactly ten years after it got a face lift in order to host the African Cup of Nations in 2008.
The Baba Yara Sports Stadium, on the other hand, has not been renovated for over ten years and looks a shadow of its former self due to improper maintenance.
By: Ibrahim Zibrilla