Asante Kotoko chief executive officer George Amoakoh does not see an imminent return of football in Ghana.
The sport has been at a standstill since a national ban was placed on all public gatherings, including sporting events, as part of measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in March.
The Ghana Premier League and FA Cup headline the domestic competitions to have ground to a halt.
“In the light of what we are seeing in this Covid-19 period, I don’t see our way clear in starting football competitions in the next two months,” Amoakoh, also a member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Council, told 3News.
“Even if we are made to start tomorrow, we will have to train for a minimum of four weeks before you set your team together to be able to play competitive games and that will take you beyond July.
“So for now, let us wait and see. Let’s wait and get the advice from the medical practitioners and the politicians and then we will be able to take a decision going forward.”
The CEO also briefly spoke about their challenges during the football downtime.
“Now that you cannot earn anything, it becomes very difficult to manage,” Amoakoh said.
“We have had to negotiate with our players to agree to cut their salaries by 30 per cent. Even that is not easy to meet. It affects sponsorship monies.”
There have been some calls for the prompt return of football, an opinion that has become even stronger following the return of the sport in Germany last week after a similar halt.
While personalities from Berekum Chelsea, Eleven Wonders and King Faisal want the 2019-20 season cancelled altogether, another section wants football to return as soon as possible, albeit under strict safety protocols like playing matches behind closed doors.
With new cases of coronavirus still being reported daily in Ghana, however, the future remains hugely uncertain.
At the time of the suspension on March 15, a total of six cases had been recorded.
As at Friday May 22, the West African nation has registered 6,486 cases involving 31 deaths and 1,951 recoveries.
Globally, over 5,268,548 persons have been infected, and 338,100 lives lost resultantly.
The GFA has said no decision will be made on the fate of the championship until at least June 30.
The league was at the matchweek 15 stage – with Aduana Stars leading the table – when it came to a halt.
Be the first to comment