National · Historic • Accra, Ghana

Accra Sports Stadium

Capacity 40,000

Built 1959

Home clubs

H Hearts of Oak

Buy tickets How to get there Seat map

Stadium Snapshot

Address Osu Klottey, Accra
Capacity 40,000
Surface Natural grass
Built 1959
Renovated 2007, 2024
Record attendance 40,000 (2008 AFCON opener)
Architect Julius Berger (2007), Consar (2024)
Owner Ministry of Youth and Sports

Accra, Ghana

Ohene Djan Sports Stadium Road, Osu Klottey, Accra

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Nearby Recommendations

Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City

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Movenpick Ambassador Hotel

1 km · 3 min drive

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Best Western Premier Accra

4 km · 10 min drive

GHS₵₵₵

See all nearby

Section Guide

Find Your Best View

High Demand

Premium

Accra Sports Stadium bowl

Home End (Block A, West)

Organised Black Stars and Hearts of Oak supporters behind the west goal. Drums, flags, loudest block in the ground.

Price Range GHS 30–80 (GPL) · GHS 60–200 (NT)

Main Stand (Covered, South)

TV-camera side, covered, cushioned seats, VIP sections adjacent. Midpoint of the pitch for the clearest view.

Price Range GHS 150–500 · VIP from GHS 1,000

Family Block (East Stand)

Mixed crowd, no-flares policy, family-friendly. Partially covered.

Price Range GHS 50–120

Away End (Block D, North)

Segregation zone for travelling fans. Separate entry via Gate D, police escort in and out.

Price Range GHS 30–80

How to get there

By car By taxi / ride-hail By bus / tro-tro From the airport

By car

10–20 min from Accra city centre

Typical Fare

Indicative pricing

Est. cost Uber to Airport Residential: GHS 25–45

The stadium is in central Accra on Ohene Djan Sports Stadium Road, 500 m from Independence Square and 2 km from Jamestown. Driving from Airport Residential takes 15 minutes off-peak and 35 minutes on Black Stars match-days.

On-site parking for 2,000 cars; fills 2 hours before Black Stars kickoff
Overflow parking at Independence Square arena lot
Arrive 2 hours before kickoff for international fixtures — Liberation Road backs up
Uber, Bolt, and Yango all work reliably in Accra

By taxi / ride-hail

Uber, Bolt, or Yango from anywhere in Accra

Typical Fare

Indicative pricing

Est. cost Bolt from Osu: GHS 15–30

All three major ride-hail apps work in Accra with good match-day coverage. Shared tro-tro drop taxis from Circle or Kaneshie also run the route cheaply. Airport taxis queue at Kotoka International.

Cash and mobile money both accepted; MTN MoMo is the Accra default
Match-day surge on Uber and Bolt rarely passes 50 percent
Book return before leaving the hotel on Black Stars nights

By bus / tro-tro

Tro-tro from Circle, Kaneshie, Tema Station

Typical Fare

Indicative pricing

Est. cost Tro-tro: GHS 3–8

Tro-tros run from Circle, Kaneshie, and Tema Station to the Sports Stadium stop for GHS 3–8. Frequencies run every 5–10 minutes on non-match days and drop to 15 minutes on match-days as traffic thickens.

From Circle: any tro-tro marked 'Osu' or 'Labadi'
From Tema Station: shared taxi for GHS 10

From the airport

8 km · 20 minutes

Kotoka International Airport sits 8 km north-east of the stadium. Uber, Bolt, and Yango work from arrivals. International flights from London, Dubai, and Addis Ababa land at Terminal 3.

Pre-book a hotel pickup if you arrive match-day morning
Airport → stadium: Uber GHS 40–65 · airport taxi GHS 80–120

Where to buy tickets

Official

Ghana FA + Ticketline

Black Stars tickets go through ghanafa.org and the Ticketline app. GPL fixtures for Hearts of Oak sell via the club ticket office and Ticketline.

Check current fixtures

Trusted resellers

Whitelisted secondary market

When the official portal sells out, these are the only resellers we recommend.

Ticketline Ghana Egotickets

Typical price ranges

GPL league

GHS 30–100

Super Clash (Hearts–Kotoko)

GHS 50–300

Black Stars friendly

GHS 60–200

World Cup qualifier

GHS 100–500

AFCON qualifier

GHS 80–400

Do not buy printed tickets from informal sellers outside the gate. Fakes circulate for Black Stars fixtures and Super Clash matches. Buy through ghanafa.org, Ticketline Ghana, Egotickets, or the Hearts of Oak club office.

Match-Day Timeline

−3h

Gates open

Early arrival recommended for Black Stars matches and Super Clash. Phased entry by block.

Kickoff −3h

−2h

Warm-up begins

Concessions open; full food service from −1h

−2h

−90m

Team arrival

Tunnel view from the Main Stand forecourt

−90 min

−30m

Pre-match announcement

National anthem rehearsal, pre-match entertainment

−30 min

Kickoff

Match begins

Kickoff

Half-time concessions

Queues peak 45–55 min; plan accordingly

FT +20m

Staggered exit

Block-by-block release since 2001 safety review — home blocks first, away fans held 30 min

FT +20 min

Bag policy

Small bags only. Large bags not permitted. No cloakroom on-site.

Cashless pref.

Concessions accept cash, card, and MTN MoMo QR. MoMo is often the fastest line.

Outside food

No outside food or drink. Sealed water bottles up to 500ml permitted from main entry.

Safety & fan tips

Accra Sports Stadium carries the memory of the 9 May 2001 disaster, when 126 fans died in a crowd crush during a Hearts of Oak–Asante Kotoko league match after police fired tear gas toward already-packed stands with locked exit gates. The 2001 commission of inquiry produced a full set of recommendations that reshaped Ghanaian match-day safety — mandatory phased entry, minimum gate-width ratios, permanent stewarding, on-site medical teams, and a standing ban on crowd-control tear gas inside seated stadia. The 2007 and 2024 refurbishments implemented those recommendations in the stadium fabric: widened exit gates, separated concourses, permanent medical bays at every block, and controlled staggered exits from full time +20. Visible police and stewards cover every gate on match-day, and the standard procedure for overcrowding is to hold entry rather than to clear the concourse.

Body and bag search at every gate. Post-2001 crowd protocol means entry can be paused if a block reaches capacity — comply, do not push forward.
Keep cash split across two pockets. Pickpockets target the turnstile queue.
Do not wear away colours in the Home End. The Super Clash fixture has clear segregation rules.
Permanent medical bays at every block since the 2007 rebuild. Red Cross and National Ambulance Service on-site for every match.
Follow steward directions at full time. Staggered exits are mandatory and not negotiable.

Stadium medical +233-302-660-100

Police (Accra) 191

National Ambulance 112

Accessibility

Wheelchair-accessible viewing platform at Block E (south-east), capacity 140
Elevator to Main Stand VIP (Block E south) — accessible entry from VIP gate
Hearing loop active in Main Stand VIP; request at Block E gate
Accessible parking at North Car Park Bay 1–20 — reserved, book via Ghana FA portal
Accessible washrooms at every concourse stairwell
Companion ticket free — apply to Ghana FA 7+ days in advance with medical documentation

Where to stay and eat nearby

Hotels — walkable

Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City

1 km · 3 min drive · GHS₵₵₵₵

Accra's five-star flagship, walking distance from the stadium. Black Stars squad stays here pre-match.

Book on Kempinski

Movenpick Ambassador Hotel

1 km · 3 min drive · GHS₵₵₵₵

Five-star next to Independence Square. Used by visiting national teams.

Book on Movenpick

Best Western Premier Accra

4 km · 10 min drive · GHS₵₵₵

Reliable four-star at Airport Residential with shuttle access.

Book on Best Western

Pre-match bars

Republic Bar & Grill — Osu

2 km · GHS₵₵

Local mix, big-screen football, cocktails. Popular with Hearts of Oak fans.

Champs Sports Bar — Paloma

3 km · GHS₵₵

Sports bar with multiple TVs, cold beer, outdoor seating.

Osu High Street Food Street

2 km · GHS₵

Casual street-food cluster along Oxford Street for a cheap pre-match meal.

Post-match food

Buka Restaurant — Osu

2 km · GHS₵₵

Pan-African cuisine, open late, outdoor tables.

Santoku — Kempinski

1 km · GHS₵₵₵

Japanese fine dining inside Kempinski. Late kitchen on match-nights.

La Beach Bar Cluster

4 km · GHS₵₵

Labadi beach-front bars open past midnight on match-days.

Historical Significance

Accra Sports Stadium opened in 1959, two years after Ghana's independence, as the new republic's national ground. The venue hosted the football finals at the 1961 All-Africa Games — the first edition of the Games — and served as the Black Stars' primary home for most of the 1960s onwards. On 9 May 2001 the stadium was the site of the worst sporting disaster in West African history: 126 fans died in a crowd crush during a Hearts of Oak vs Asante Kotoko league match after police fired tear gas into packed stands while exit gates remained locked. The 2001 commission of inquiry delivered sweeping recommendations on stadium safety, stewarding, and crowd control, many of which are now codified across African match-day procedure. Julius Berger led a full 2007 rebuild ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which Ghana hosted and where the stadium staged the opening match. A further 2024 refurbishment by Consar upgraded floodlighting, rewired concourse electrics, and refreshed the pitch drainage.

Built

1959

Renovated

2024

Surface

Natural grass

Record

40,000

Notable matches

13 Nov 1960

Ghana 3–0 Nigeria

3–0

Early Jalco Cup fixture at the new stadium. Founded the Black Stars–Super Eagles rivalry on home soil.

09 May 2001

Hearts of Oak 2–1 Asante Kotoko

2–1

The 2001 disaster. 126 fans died in a crowd crush after police fired tear gas while exit gates were locked. The commission of inquiry reshaped African match-day safety procedure.

20 Jan 2008

Ghana 2–1 Guinea

2–1

2008 AFCON opening match. First major fixture in the rebuilt stadium; record attendance of 40,000.

07 Feb 2008

Ghana 2–0 Nigeria

2–0

2008 AFCON quarter-final. Michael Essien and Junior Agogo goals; a full house celebrated.

12 Nov 2023

Ghana 1–0 Madagascar

1–0

2026 World Cup qualifier, first fixture after the 2024 refurbishment programme began.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the capacity of Accra Sports Stadium?

40,000 after the 2007 rebuild. Record attendance matches capacity at 40,000, set at the 2008 AFCON opening match. On Super Clash and Black Stars match-days the Ghana FA typically caps sales at 37,000 to leave movement space in aisles and safety zones.

Where is Accra Sports Stadium located?

Central Accra on Ohene Djan Sports Stadium Road, Osu Klottey, 500 m from Independence Square and 2 km from Jamestown. The drive from Airport Residential takes 15 minutes off-peak and 35 minutes on Black Stars match-days. Kotoka International Airport is 8 km north-east.

How much are Black Stars tickets at the stadium?

Black Stars friendly tickets run GHS 60–200. World Cup qualifiers reach GHS 100–500. AFCON qualifiers sit at GHS 80–400. GPL league tickets run GHS 30–100 and Super Clash pricing goes GHS 50–300. Buy through ghanafa.org, Ticketline Ghana, or Egotickets.

What happened at Accra Sports Stadium in 2001?

On 9 May 2001, 126 fans died in a crowd crush during a Hearts of Oak vs Asante Kotoko league match after police fired tear gas into packed stands while exit gates remained locked. It is the worst sporting disaster in West African history. The commission of inquiry that followed reshaped Ghanaian and African match-day safety procedure, introducing mandatory phased entry, minimum gate-width ratios, permanent stewarding, on-site medical teams, and a standing ban on tear gas inside seated stadia. The 2007 and 2024 refurbishments implemented those recommendations in the fabric of the stadium.

Is there parking at the stadium?

Yes — 2,000 bays on-site, plus overflow at the Independence Square arena lot. Arrive 2 hours before Black Stars kickoff as Liberation Road and the stadium access roads back up. Accessible parking at North Car Park Bays 1–20 is reserved via the Ghana FA portal.

When was the stadium built?

1959, two years after Ghana's independence. It hosted the 1961 All-Africa Games football finals. Julius Berger led a full 2007 rebuild for the 2008 AFCON, which Ghana hosted. A further 2024 refurbishment by Consar upgraded floodlighting, rewired concourse electrics, and refreshed pitch drainage.

How do I get to the stadium without a car?

Uber, Bolt, or Yango from anywhere in Accra — GHS 15–30 from Osu and GHS 25–45 from Airport Residential. Tro-tros run from Circle, Kaneshie, and Tema Station for GHS 3–8. From Kotoka Airport it is a 20-minute ride, GHS 40–65 on Uber or GHS 80–120 in an airport taxi.

Who owns Accra Sports Stadium?

Ghana's Ministry of Youth and Sports owns and operates the stadium via the National Sports Authority. Hearts of Oak is the primary GPL tenant. The Ghana Football Association is the match-day tenant for all Black Stars fixtures.