Baba Yara Sports Stadium (also Kumasi Sports Stadium) is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

, Ashanti. It is Ghana's largest stadium, with a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 40,528. The Kumasi Stadium is used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches, although it is also used for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. It is the home of Kumasi

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

as well as King Faisal. The Stadium which is known for hosting important games such as World cup qualifiers and AFCON qualifiers received its heaviest backlash due to technical infraction and unsuitable playing field. This was due to a church program organized on the pitch thereby losing its license to host football matches of international standard s.

History

The stadium was originally built by the

United African Company The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the ''United African Company '' and renamed to ''National African Company'' in 1881 and to ''Royal Niger C ...

(UAC) in 1957 and

inaugurated In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

as a designated football pitch in 1959. The first stands were constructed in 1971. The stadium was rebuilt in 1977. It was renamed after Kumasi-born footballer Baba Yara (1936–1969, active for Asante Kotoko 1955–1961) under the New Patriotic government in 2004. The third major works ended in 2008. As part of the works, the west stand was demolished and replaced by a two-tier stand with press, corporate, and VIP facilities. The rest of the stands were upgraded, seats were added, and transparent panels were installed to separate the spectator area from the playing area in order to prevent

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (also known as field storming, rushing the field or rushing the court) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or somet ...

Tournaments

1978, 2000 and 2008 African Cup of Nations

The stadium hosted 6 group matches and one of the semi-final matches of the

1978 African Cup of Nations The 1978 African Cup of Nations was the eleventh edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Accra and Kumasi, Ghana. The format of the competition changed from 1976: the field of eight teams ...

tournament. During the

2000 African Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field ...

, the stadium hosted 7 matches. It was later used for the

2008 African Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confeder ...

. The Baba Yara stadium also hosted th
Ghana and Nigeria match
in the first leg of their World Cup playoff match on Friday March 25, 2022.

References

External links

Photos
a
cafe.daum.net/stade Kumasi Sports Stadium
{{Ghana Premier League venues Asante Kotoko S.C. King Faisal F.C. Athletics (track and field) venues in Ghana Sports venues in Ghana Football venues in Ghana Multi-purpose stadiums in Ghana