Felix Ahonzo Chief Operating Officer (COO) of StarTimes, the Official Broadcaster of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has appealed to football commentators and analysts on radio to dwell and promote the positive sides of the Ghana Premier League (GPL) than always bashing on the non existent negatives which has rendered the competition sponsorless.

Addressing a section of the sports media at the Tomreik Hotel, he expressed that the bad reportage affects the players, coaches, media, and attendance by fans and mostly on the club owners who invest in the game.

He stressed that Ghana abounds in football talents, and the GPL is one of the best leagues on the African continent.

He said StarTimes believes in Ghana that is why they are investing in Ghana Football, adding that partnering with the fastest growing Pay TV network in Africa is no mean achievement.

Marketing Manager, Akofa Djankui who talked about the Plan for the GPL said sports is the passion of the nation and the football league is the oldest sporting competition in the country which needs to be cherished and protected like it happens in Europe and South America.

She hinted that StarTimes, founded in 1988 in Beijing, China is a huge multinational company that has come to enhance the football brand of Ghana with an international and experienced production team that operates on quality international standards.

She noted that more people are now watching TV and StarTimes want to add value and professionalism to broadcasting of the league on radio, TV and online.

She called for more promotion and advertising highlights for the teams and players to attract fans. “Write and talk about the new emerging stars so that we can know them” she stressed.

She named the three local partners of StarTimes as Max TV, GTV Sports Plus and GT, and requested for serious key radio partners with conditions like acknowledging StarTimes as official broadcaster, LPMs during matches, jingles during matches, arrange two interviews monthly for StarTimes, revenue sharing on the GPL, assurance of benefits to affect affiliate stations and unlicensed radio stations not carrying the GPL matches.

Akofa told the gathering “we are partners, we are ever ready to share our goodies with the media, the media is competent”.

StarTimes who have rights for the President’s Cup organized by GHALCA and the FA Cup which involved First and Second Division clubs, as well as women’s competitions, have promised to telecast 90 GPL matches in 2018 with the arrival of their expensive OB van.

StarTimes have secured rights for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 and several leagues in Europe.