The Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon.Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, accompanied by the Deputy Minister, Hon. Vincent Oppong Asamoah, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Victor Xola Senaya, the Director General of the National Sports Authority, Mr. Joe Kpenge, the Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority, Mr.Saka Acquaye and Heads of some of the sporting federations has paid a working visit to the Accra Sports Stadium to familiarize himself with the state of the facility.

He inspected the washrooms, the Press Box and the gym. He also inspected the playing field and the stands.

Speaking in an interview with the Press after the inspection, the Minister was not happy at the rate of deterioration of the stadium     and noted that most of the bolts and nuts were weak, there was poor sanitation, dirty chairs among others.

The Hon. Minister could not understand why people would use a toilet and not flush it or jump onto plastic seats to celebrate a goal and said such behaviors must stop.

Hon.Nii Lantey Vanderpuye noted that dusting or cleaning of seats at the stadium and fixing of door screws are simple menial tasks that must not be blamed on lack of funds.

In an answer to the question of the VIP section being a death trap, Hon.Vanderpuye said the “death-trap” tag was the creation of the media and even though situation was not as bad as described, he would request further assessment by the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) in other to know the next step to take.

He said that all hope was not lost and that there was room for improvement.

He told the press that since handing over of the facility in 2008 after the African Cup of Nations, the metallic parts have not been coated with anti-rust materials and this has caused some parts of the metal structure of the stadium especially the side towards the main entrance   to rust.

Hon. Nii Lantey Vanderpuye said the stadium would be closed for maintenance work to be carried out after the Black Stars – Mozambique match and bemoaned the bad nature of the pitch and instructed the National Sports Authority to get in touch with parks and gardens for professional advice.

He advised the National Sports Authority to ensure as an interim measure   to reduce the number of spectators using the press box area to prevent any tragedy. He emphasized on basic cleanliness of the stadium as well as effective supervision to maintain the national property.

The Hon. Minister said the Ministry of Youths and Sports was considering public private partnership and the engagement of facility managers as possible options to maintain the facility.