The Upper East Regional physical education coordinator, Mr.
Awiah Thomas, has blamed the region’s inability to raise a club which can
qualify for the elite division of Ghanaian league football on a lack of
adequate financial support for football teams in the region.
This was disclosed in an interview with URA Radio S ports in
Bolgatanga, the Upper East Region capital. According to the Regional P.E. Coordinator,
the main problem bedeviling teams has been the unavailability of investment in
the game by the wealthy and affluent in the region.
“Without money you cannot have a very good team to compete
with others in the Division One League. Running football these days involves a
lot of money and I believe when people with financial power begin to invest in
our game, it will enable us put up a team that can face the rest in the Division
One League through the Middle League and thus eventually qualify to the Premier
League,” Mr. Awuah said.
He quizzed: “How can we get the required results if we don’t
have the resources to motivate our players very well?”
He added: The moment we start to put money into the sport in
this region, trust me, we will get Premier League club.”
The experienced physical education instructor furthermore
explained his insistence that the region from which Ghana’s widely acclaimed
greatest ever footballer Abedi Pele hails, abounds in very good quality players
who can play at the highest level of Ghanaian league football.
“We don’t have any problem with good players because this
region abounds in very talented quality players who if they are groomed
together very well, can take a club from the region into the Glo league,” Thomas
Awiah argued.
He continued: “There are a lot of player from here who are
currently playing in the league and are doing pretty well for their clubs. You
can talk of the likes of Atia Sumaila of Medeama SC, Fatawu Mohammed of Asante
Kotoko, Peter Tibila of Ebusua Dwarfs and Seidu Salifu Zida who plays for Wa All
Stars and was part of the 2011 national under 20 team, Black Satellites,
just to mention a few.”
Upper East remains the only region in this country yet to taste
Premier League football, meaning football fans in the region have to travel all
the way to the Tamale Stadium if they want to watch Ghana top flight league
action.
The region currently has two teams in the national division
one league with 34 teams competing in the regional division two leagues.