Hearts of Oak and Kotoko must own a stadium to win GPL – Bashir Hayford

Heart of Lions coach Bashir Hayford has cautioned Kotoko and Hearts of Oak to work at getting their own stadium facility or forget about dominating the domestic league again.

The two Ghanaian giants utilise the Baba Yara and Accra Sports Stadia as their venues respectively.

The outspoken coach believes that the use of the state facility as a venue for their matches puts them in a disadvantaged position because a lot goes into the local game.

He believes venues like Baba Yara Stadium and Accra Sports Stadium are almost like neutral grounds for the other clubs.

The former Kotoko boss believes the two clubs do not have consistent training opportunities on state facilities, and that security and other conditions on state facilities create fair and level playing fields for opponents, as opposed to clubs with private stadia, where opposing teams and referees face various forms of intimidation and unfairness.

Speaking exclusively to Kumasi based Akoma 87.9 FM, Coach Bashir Hayford stated “As Ghanaians we must learn to tell the truth, it will be very difficult for teams who do not have their own stadium facility to win the league,” he stated.

Kotoko and Hearts of Oak don’t play at their own venues, but the likes of Samatex, Nsoatreman and Bechem all play at their own stadium facility.

Your chances of winning at such private venues are very slim unlike the state owned venues like Accra and Kumasi where security is assured and level playing grounds exits for all competing teams.

Hearts and Kotoko must get their own stadium, otherwise winning the league will become difficult “.

Hayford over the weekend expressed frustrations over the treatment meted out to him and his team when they played Bechem United in a 1-1 draw.

Raphael Sarkodie|Akoma Sports| Ghana