Angola didn’t play in the sky, stop blaming us – NSA fires back at Ghanaians

The Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Bawa Majeed, has hit back at critics who blamed the Black Stars’ loss to Angola on the poor condition of the Baba Yara Stadium pitch.

This response follows the senior national team’s defeat in their opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, leaving them third in Group F.

Before the match, both Ghanaians and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had raised concerns about the state of the pitch, although the NSA insisted it was in good condition.

The Authority, however, came under serious scrutiny after the Black Stars’ loss to their Angolan counterparts. In response, Mr. Bawa, during an interview on Accra-based Asempa FM, said, “Are they suggesting that the Angolans were playing in the sky? They are all footballers.”

“Those they assembled to play against the Black Stars are professionals. We assembled our professionals. They all played on the same pitch. CAF had inspected the pitch and has approved it for the game.

“Let’s just look at what happened. We might not be coaches but we follow and understand football. We all expected and wanted, even the fans themselves were agitating for change in the 60th minute,” he explained.

Meanwhile, after the game, Ghana coach Otto Addo defended his team, particularly center-back Abdul Mumin, whose poor clearance led to an easy tap-in for the Angolan attacker. Like many Ghanaians, the coach attributed the defeat to the poor condition of the playing field, which he described as “not good.”

His counterpart, Pedro Goncalves, also expressed his dissatisfaction with the pitch, saying “a country like Ghana deserves a better pitch and a better national stadium.”