The Ghana national team has cancelled its plans to host its Africa Cup of Nations training camp in Johannesburg just days before the squad was set to land in South Africa.
The Black Stars were set to land at the OR Tambo Airport on Sunday, 31 December, ahead of a training camp that was supposed to last just over a week before jetting off to west Africa for the continental showpiece.
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An international friendly against Botswana was also set to take place on Monday, 8 January, in Johannesburg, but this has since been cancelled as well.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed that the team will now begin its training camp on 2 January in Kumasi, a city located in the south-central area of the west African country.
According to Ghana Soccernet, the decision was made after national team management and technical staff had a meeting earlier this week following criticism in some quarters regarding preparing in a country like South Africa for a competition that is taking place in the Ivory Coast.
"The Ghana Football Association wishes to announce that following a review meeting between the Management Technical Team, it has changed plans to camp the Black Stars in South Africa ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations," a statement from the GFA reads.
"Ghana was originally scheduled to open a training camp in South Africa from Sunday, December 31, 2023, for a 10-day period ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cote D'Ivoire.
"Following the decision, the team will now camp in Kumasi beginning Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
"The International friendly against Botswana scheduled on Monday, January 8, 2024 in Johannesburg is called off and the FA is working on finding a new opponent for the team as part of the build-up to the tournament in Abidjan.
"The Association is mindful of the request of the Black Stars Technical Team for a quiet and serene camping atmosphere, and thus, the hotel will be strictly inaccessible to the public and the media.
"Again, the training sessions will be behind closed doors and not available to the public and media. The team will, however, organise a session with the media. The friendly match will also be open to the public, after which there will be a post-match press conference with the media.
"The Association calls for public understanding and support to ensure that the objectives of the Technical Team of the Black Stars during the camping period in Kumasi are achieved."
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The Black Stars, who have won AFCON four times in their history, will play Mozambique, Cape Verde and Egypt in the group stage of the tournament, with their first fixture set to take place on 14 January, the day after the competition officially begins.
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