The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a

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

(40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

, mostly used for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches. It is also used for rugby union.

Overview

The stadium was inaugurated in 1962 by a football match played between Accra XI and Kumasi XI. Originally known as the Accra Sports Stadium, the stadium was renamed after Ohene Djan, the country's first Director of Sports, in 2004 after renovations. Its renaming was quite controversial and opposed by the

Ga people The Ga-Dangbe, Gã-Daŋbɛ, Ga-Dangme, or GaDangme are an ethnic group in Ghana, Togo and Benin. The Ga and Dangbe people are grouped respectively as part of the Ga–Dangme ethnolinguistic group. The Ga-Dangmes are one ethnic group that lives ...

. There has been ongoing controversy about the name of the stadium. On June 16, 2011, the name 'Ohene Djan Stadium' on the stadium building was changed to 'Accra Sports Stadium' without any official announcement by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly supported by the National Democratic Congress Government. It has since been reverted. As a designated venue of some of 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 to the Confederat ...

matches, the stadium was rebuilt, upgraded, and modernized to meet

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

standards. Work on the stadium was completed in October 2007. It was inaugurated with a four-nation tournament that Ghana won (the Zenith Cup). The stadium is also the home of one of Africa's most popular clubs, Hearts of Oak as well as

Great Olympics Accra Great Olympics is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Accra, Greater Accra. The club is currently competing in the Ghana Premier League. It has won the Ghana Premier League twice, in 1970, 1974 and the Ghana FA Cup thrice, in 19 ...

and Legon Cities FC, but Ghana's national team matches are sometimes played there. 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 ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, the stadium hosted 9 matches, and was also the venue of the 1978 final. The venue has also hosted important

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

events, numbering 91 professional boxing programs as of August 2020. Perhaps the most famous one took place on Saturday, November 6, 1976, when Ghanaian

David Kotei David Kotey (originating from the Kotei family; born 7 December 1950), popularly called "D.K. Poison", is a former world featherweight boxing champion between 1975 and 1976. He is the first Ghanaian professional boxer to win a world title. Am ...

, the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

's world Featherweight champion, lost his championship to future

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

member, Mexican-American Danny Lopez by a 15 rounds unanimous decision. This program also featured a bout between undefeated, 29-0 prospect

Sulley Shittu Sulley Shittu (born 15 April 1946 in Koforidua) is a Ghanaian amateur fly/bantamweight, and professional bantamweight boxer of the 1960s and 1970s who as an amateur represented Ghana at flyweight in the Boxing at the 1964 Summer Olympics in T ...

and Felix Figueroa, which Shittu won by 8 rounds decision. The crowd for this event has been estimated at over 100,000 fans.

Notes and references

External links

Ghana-pedia webpage - Ohene Djan Sports StadiumNew Work-in-Progress Photos - October 2007Photo
a
worldstadiums.com
a
fussballtempel.net
Moreno Marrazzo {{Ghana Premier League venues Football venues in Ghana Athletics (track and field) venues in Ghana

Sports venues in Ghana Sport in Accra Buildings and structures in Accra Sports venues completed in 1952

Overview

See also

Notes and references

External links