Soccer fans in the Bolgatanga Municipality have planned to throng the newly-built Tamale Sports Stadium and the other venues in their numbers to watch the Ghana 2008 matches when the tournament starts next year. Though Bolgatanga is not a tournament venue, most soccer fans have expressed their willingness to invade the Tamale stadium to watch the Group D matches, most especially the game between Tunisia and South Africa. Some of the fans have also made known their preparedness to hire buses to travel to the other venues across the country to watch matches indicate that some fans of Angola and Senegal have booked hotel rooms in Bolgatanga and its environs for their use during the tournament so they can make the two-hour journey to Tamale to cheer their teams. Graphic Sports also learnt that in order to avert any accommodation shortage problems, the Bolgatanga Polytechnic hostel will be used to house fans during the tournament. The Polytechnic has been authorised to vacate for holidays by the middle of December so that the hostel facility will be prepared early enough to accommodate visiting fans. Some chairmen of Division One clubs who spoke to the Graphic Sports indicated their preparedness to mobilise their players and individual supporters to watch the games but appealed to the LOG to reconsider the prices of the gate fee. They indicated that watching the matches in the night would mean that they pass the night in Tamale. It would, therefore, be expensive to pay their hotel bills, travel expenses, as well as the gate fee. The Upper East Regional Organiser of the coalition of Supporters Group in Ghana, Mr. Osman Issah, hinted that they intend to hire buses to travel across the venue centers in the country to cheer all the participating teams. He is, therefore, appealing to business organisations to assist the supporters group to financially meet their travelling expenses. Source: Graphic Sports