The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Joe Aggrey has observed that even though women soccer has created job opportunities for some women, it has still not seen any remarkable improvement in the area because it is mainly organised by local individuals on voluntary basis.

He said this unfortunate situation has resulted in their programmes not being well organised and so did not make it attractive for companies and other corporate bodies to sponsor them.

Speaking at a reception held in Accra on Thursday in honour of the Ghatel Ladies team for winning the second edition of the West African Women' s Football Competition held in Burkina Faso in August, Mr Aggrey said the Ministry recognised the important role soccer has played in bringing transformation in most youth.

He pledged the government's support for the women to enable them to organise a competitive soccer league in the country to bring their programmes to the accepted level.

Mr Aggrey commended Ghana Telecom for sponsoring the team since its inception two years ago and appealed to individuals and companies to come to aid women soccer to save it from collapse.

He later presented a personal amount of 2.5 million cedis to the team.

Mr Sylvester Mensah, Chairman of the Female National Team, who represented the Ghana Football Association Chairman (GFA), Mr Ben Kouffie said there was going to be a structural plan for women soccer.

Outlining the programme of the team for the rest of the year, Mr Mensah said the women would now play curtain raisers at prominent league centres during premier league matches to attract sponsors for them.

He said invitations have been received from Mali and Nigeria to play some international friendly matches between October and December and adequate preparations were being made to honour them.

Mr Mensah said the team has been registered for the 2003 Women's World Cup to be held in China.

He said the 22 players that would be selected from each region at the end of their league matches would be pruned and camped in either Kumasi or the Central Region since the Black Stars were already camping at the Winneba Sports College.

Mr Dato'Abdul Malek Mohamed, Managing Director of Ghana Telecom, said the company has realised the important role soccer was playing and would continue to support the team.

He said all Regional Heads of the company have been urged to form Ghatel teams from which a national team could be selected.

Mr Mohamed also pledged that the team would have the chance of playing a Malaysian female side in the near future.

The team later presented the trophies won to the Deputy Minister and the Managing Director.