Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has appealed to Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee to lead efforts to remove restrictions preventing alcoholic beverage companies from sponsoring sports activities in the country.
He says the restriction is denying Ghanaian sports significant financial support, citing a potential $5 million annual sponsorship deal with Guinness Ghana Limited that collapsed because of regulations imposed by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
Speaking when he appeared before the Committee, Mr Okraku said Guinness Ghana had approached the GFA with plans to invest heavily in the Ghana Premier League, but the deal could not materialise after the FDA rejected the proposal.
“We were approached by Guinness Ghana Limited wanting to invest heavily in the Ghana Premier League. We did whatever we had to do. We had series of meetings. At the end, FDA said no. The deal was, if I’m not mistaken, over $5 million a year,” he told the Committee.
He argued that the provision giving the FDA authority to approve or reject sponsorship from alcoholic beverage companies must be removed to allow businesses to support sports development.
“Mr Chairman, if there’s one thing that you can do to help sports and football, that will be for you to lead the charge to completely take out that provision,” he appealed.
Mr Okraku said several international football leagues continue to benefit from sponsorship arrangements with major alcohol brands, while Ghanaian sports miss out on similar opportunities.
Beyond sponsorship challenges, the GFA President identified poor playing surfaces, inadequate stadium facilities and limited investment in technical development as some of the major obstacles to sustained success for Ghana’s national football teams.
He told the Committee that while the GFA was responsible for providing logistics and creating an enabling environment for football development, achieving lasting success required broader and continuous investment.
He said Ghana needed to strengthen grassroots football, invest in youth development, improve coach education and expose local coaches to international opportunities.
The GFA President also stressed the need for better scouting systems, quality football pitches for young and senior players, and improved stadium infrastructure.
“If one has to be honest, Mr Chairman, there is a lot more that brings sustained success in football. This includes, but is not limited to, continuous investment in grassroots football, continuous investment in youth football, sustained and continuous investment in coach education, exposing your coaches to the international market,” he said.
He lamented that many of these essential facilities and structures were lacking in Ghana, warning that without sustained investment in these areas, the country would struggle to achieve consistent success in major football competitions.