Ghana FA boss assures Black Stars safety despite settling on 'notorious' Maceio as World Cup team base

By Ameenu Shardow, follow on Twitter @alooameenu

Ghana FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi has assured absolute safety for the Black Stars having settled on the reportedly notorious city of Maceio as the team base camp for the World Cup.

The Ghana FA have settled to base the Black Stars in Maceio throughout their campaign at next year’s event in Brazil after touring several possible sites after the final World Cup draw held on December 6.

This means the Black Stars will be flying back to the largest city of the coastal state Alagoas whenever they travel for games during the tournament.

The Black Stars will first travel to Natal to face USA in their opening Group G game before battling Germany and Portugal in Fortaleza and Brasilia respectively.

Concerns have however been raised over the safety of Maceio with some reports in the media describing the place as the third most notorious city in Brazil in terms of crime.

But the GFA boss believes these reports of heightened crime lack the requisite credibility while insisting security during major tournaments such as the World Cup are so intense that crime is usually made virtually non-existent.

“It will be the team base camp for the World Cup that is where we will be based at the World Cup, it is true,” Nyantakyie told an assembled Ghanaian media.

“These kinds of reports are very well known to FIFA. I think they even know these information better than you and I do.

“If FIFA had relied on such information, South Africa wouldn’t have been able to host the World Cup.

“These are destructive, negative propaganda and they have no effect on the organisation of the World Cup.

“Has anybody given you information on crime during the World Cup in any country?

“It is almost insignificant because security during the World Cup is beefed up and there is little possibility of crime being perpetuated during such a major competition.

“So it is possible that under normal circumstances there will be crime in the city but during the World Cup season it’s near to an impossibility for such crimes will be perpetuated and therefore our team will be very safe at the team camp.”