Black Stars Almost Boycott Training Because Of “Cassava Farm” Pitch

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has revealed that players of the Black Stars nearly called off their training at the Accra Sports Stadium on Monday because of the disastrous state of the pitch, insisting they will look for an alternative venue if the pitch is not improved on Tuesday.
The sports ministry’s failure to pay the pitch staff of the Accra Sports Stadium for THREE YEARS severely disrupted the Black Stars opening training session for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers as unpaid workers staged a boycott, leaving the playing surface in a disgraceful state.
Workers of Green Grass Technology, the company contracted to put the pitch in a good shape, opted not to work on the pitch because of their unpaid monies, exposing the rot at the heart of the Sports Ministry and National Sports Authority’s management of the country’s flagship stadium.

The Ghana national team, who were opening their training of the world’s best football competition, were isolated as a small space on the pitch as the outgrown grass made the pitch completely unusable.
The cassava farm-like look of the pitch only good for grazing by cattle, proved dangerous to players of the national team whose clubs have invested millions of dollars in signing them and Gyan says they were reluctant to train.
“We didn’t even want to train. I don’t think it’s good to train on a pitch like this,” Gyan told journalists after Monday’s restricted training session for players of Ghana national team.
“If the field is going to be like this tomorrow, then I am sorry we cannot train here tomorrow. We are all professionals and we will sit down with the technical team and decide where to train,” Gyan added.
The Black Stars are preparing for their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Comoros at the Stade Said Cheikh Mohammed in Moroni on Friday.
The Managing Director of Green Grass Technology, Frank Boahen revealed that the pitch of the Accra Stadium was left in the utterly poor state because his workers have been unpaid because of the ministry’s failure to pay their pitch maintenance fees since 2012.
The Black Stars could consider leaving the Accra Sports Stadium as coach Avram Grant does not want to put his players and his preparations at risk.