Accra Sports Stadium, Football stadium in Ministries district, Ghana
Accra Sports Stadium is a 40,000-capacity all-seater multi-use ground in Accra, used mainly for association football and also for rugby union. It stands in the Korle-Klottey Municipal District and serves as home ground for Hearts of Oak, Accra Lions FC and Great Olympics. Its sports hall is named the Dayaram Gangaram Hathiramani Sports Hall, after the man who helped establish table tennis in Ghana.
The stadium was inaugurated in 1962 with a match between Accra XI and Kumasi XI. Renamed after Ohene Djan, Ghana's first Director of Sports, in 2004, the name proved controversial and was opposed by the Ga people; in 2011 the original name was restored on the building. Ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations it was rebuilt to FIFA standards, work completed in October 2007 and opened with the Zenith Cup, which Ghana won. It hosted the 1978 African Cup of Nations final and nine matches of the 2000 tournament.
The stadium is home to Hearts of Oak, Accra Lions FC and Great Olympics, and Ghana national team matches are sometimes played here. Its renaming after Ohene Djan, Ghana's first Director of Sports, in 2004 was opposed by the Ga people, and the name has been contested since; in June 2011 the lettering on the building was changed back without an official announcement.
The venue sits centrally in Accra and is easily accessible by bus, taxi, and other transport options from most neighborhoods. Arriving early is advisable, especially when popular teams play, as seating areas can fill up quickly.
The stadium's sports hall is named after Dayaram Gangaram Hathiramani, a figure influential in establishing table tennis in Ghana. The venue has also hosted 91 professional boxing programmes as of August 2020; the most famous, on 6 November 1976, drew an estimated crowd of over 100,000 to see David Kotei lose his WBC featherweight title to Danny Lopez.
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