Sports News of Tuesday, 12 July 2016

Source: goal.com

Nyantakyi laments Ghana Premier League boycott threats

Kwesi Nyantakyi President of the Ghana Football Association Kwesi Nyantakyi President of the Ghana Football Association

President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, says withdrawal scare by Premier League clubs do not bode well for the image of the competition.

The FA capo was speaking in the wake of threats by some clubs to pull out from the topflight due to financial struggles resulting from a lack of headline sponsor for the championship.

Newly-promoted Techiman City and New Edubiase are two clubs to have recently revealed their intentions.

“The consistent claim of pulling out of the league is one of the major reasons why we’ve not been able to sign on new sponsors,” Nyantakyi told Kessben FM.

“You think anybody would like to sponsor the league when participating clubs keep threatening to pull-out?

“The sad thing is that these clubs who threaten to pull-out rather go to the media to register their grievances.

“If indeed you have a problem, we are an association, so you can table it for consideration instead of resorting to the media."

The topflight has been without a headline sponsor since First Capital Plus Bank, now Capital Bank, withdrew their support over "restructuring" reasons.

“League sponsorship is meant to support clubs and cushion their efforts," Nyantakyi added.

"The clubs must not solely rely on that for their day-to-day management.

“Clubs like Kotoko and Hearts have taken some steps, [and] the others must follow.

"Even in the big European leagues, clubs have their own sponsors who give them huge money than what they get from their associations.

“Clubs must work harder to move towards developing themselves while they wait for the support of the FA.”

The competition has seen 18 match days.