The enthusiasm and the renewed interest in the Ghana Premier League (GPL) will surely suffer another setback after the announcement by the Premier League Board (PLB) to postpone the league for a month due to the involvement of eight clubs (both division one and the GPL) to engage in the MTN FA Cup and the Black Stars Team B also competing in the AFCON qualifiers.
“The Ghana Premier League is to go on a month break to allow the quarter finals of the MTN FA Cup to be honoured, as well as pave way for handlers of the Black Stars Team B to prepare adequately for the 2018 CAF CHAN qualifiers with Burkina Faso. The quarter finals of the MTN FA Cup will be honoured this weekend, and the Black Stars B Team, which is made up of players from the domestic league, will commence a one- week residential camping ahead of their two-leg qualifiers with Burkina Faso, which will be played over a two-week period in August.” A statement from the PLB last Tuesday stated.
Indeed, the league in recent times, though without sponsorship, has received an amorous attention with the top four clubs gunning to seal a spot in next season’s CAF Champions League and the Confederations Cup. Of course, league leaders, West African Football Academy (WAFA), will not be enthused about this decision because it has pulled a break on their impressive form which has seen them wallop almost all the clubs, especially at home.
With only five games to end the season, thoughts have been divided over the inability of the PLB to allow the momentum and enthusiasm that have characterised the league in these latter stages to linger on. Many thought the decision would have been prudent to keep the players’ razor sharp for these crucial moments and to allow coaches to be abreast of information from their opponents to act as a guiding tool in planning their matches.
Certainly, all these issues cannot be said without ruling out the financial implications the clubs will suffer in keeping their players till the league resumes in September. Presently, clubs are undeniably swirling up huge financial losses due to their failure to rake in revenues which normally are accrued from gate proceeds during match days.
The much publicised television deal from StarTimes definitely has brought some relief to the clubs but has not been able to cater for the large chunk of resources clubs are investing in keeping the players whenever the league goes on recess or a lengthy break like this one. In some instances players had to be sent home by clubs to return at a later date to ease the financial burden. The repercussions of these actions over the years by the clubs have always been dismal.
And in cases where players agree to resort to non-residential camping, the question to ask is: do they have the financial capacity to foot transportation bearing in mind the wages and salaries players receive? How do we ensure that players are adequately protected from thugs and hooligans? These, I know, are questions club administrators would ponder over as they contemplate on devising such methods in keeping their players active before the league recommences.
Without disputing the analogy by the PLB to allow clubs to settle outstanding matches to enhance fair play, especially in the wake of the gruesome accident of Kumasi Asante Kotoko a fortnight ago, there is also the possibility of contending with the commencement of the European leagues which are set to begin in two weeks time. With the influx of foreign sports channels and pubs showing live European matches, even fixtures between Hearts and Kotoko may suffer a huge setback in terms of patronage.
The existence of numerous private TV stations has also been useful and has played a vital role in giving Ghanaian football fans access to the foreign leagues. But to some extent, has had negative impact on the Ghana Premier League.
Many Ghanaians prefer watching the English Premier League game on television than to go to the stadium to watch a game. Interest in the local league has fallen drastically even when it’s been aired for free.
Again, most of the local league clubs play their games with just a handful of football fans in the stands. It is obvious that the Ghanaian Premier League cannot survive if attendance continues to decline at such a drastic rate. Interest in the local Ghanaian league is still there but fans will simply prefer watching an European league game on television than to watch a local league game at the stadium, the more reason the league should have continued to prohibit any interference.
League breaks are necessary but the PLB in the future should consider such factors as patronage, enthusiasm and the financial implications clubs suffer before taking such radical decisions.
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