A team from Rugby Africa led by its President Mr. Herbert Mensah have inspected ongoing works at the University of Ghana Rugby Stadium in Accra.
The construction of the Accra rugby stadium started after an announcement of an agreement between all technical partners, including the government of Ghana and the African Union, to allow Ghana to host the Africa Games in 2024.
The tournament was originally scheduled for 2023 but was later postponed to March 2024.
Other members of the Rugby Africa inspection team include the Competitions Manager at Rugby Africa, Johnbosco Muamba, President of the Burkina Faso Rugby Federation, Rolande Boro, and the President of the Togolese Rugby Federation, Bedembda Bedinade.
“After extensive discussions with the Local Organising Committee of Ghana, headed by Dr. Kwaku Asare, Rugby Africa would be participating in next year’s Africa Games. This has been confirmed. So we are expecting all the rugby nations in Africa to be present and to participate,” Mr. Mensah said.
He added, “The question is, where do we play? We have national stadiums for football and other games. And Ghana has lots of that. But I am pleased to say that after extensive discussions with Ghana’s Local Organising Committee, it’s been confirmed that a dedicated stadium for rugby is being built currently.
“And we’ve been able to negotiate to the point where we are taking a team headed by some of our finest to go to the stadium at the University of Ghana and have meetings with the contractors and those responsible for constructing the stadium to make sure that it is of the right standard for Rugby Africa”.
Mr. Mensah further stated that the Rugby Africa team in Accra would get into discussions with authorities on the suitability of the Accra rugby stadium and what is required for its construction of the stadium.
“Rugby Africa has great plans for the development of the game on the continent, one of which is to encourage countries and governments to build dedicated stadiums and parks for rugby matches and trainings at the same time. And there’s no better way to kick it off than this one in Accra, Ghana,” said Mr. Mensah.
The infrastructure being built for the Africa Games falls in line with Rugby Africa’s competition structure, where regional and national infrastructure are critical.
“As we look forward to being part of the Rugby Africa programme, we understand that we need to revisit and relook at our competition structure. We need to look at a regional basis to operate so we can have regional competitions per country and hopefully one day for clubs at the same time.
“Venues to play are obviously fundamental to that. The stadium in Accra would provide an excellent hub. We are looking at and talking to those in Abidjan, and I know that in Abuja, Nigeria, they have a stadium that will also be allocated for playing rugby. And this allows us, at the competitions committee of Rugby Africa, to look very seriously at competitions that are regionally organised, knowing that we have the right kind of stadiums and the right kind of infrastructure to support this beautiful sport of ours.”
Rugby Africa, formerly known as the African Confederation of Rugby, was founded in 1986 and is one of six regional associations that comprise World Rugby, the international organisation in charge of governing Rugby Union and Rugby Sevens.
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