Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has called on Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee to remove restrictions preventing alcoholic beverage companies from sponsoring sport in Ghana.
Okraku said the regulations were depriving Ghanaian sport of substantial financial support, citing a proposed sponsorship agreement worth more than $5 million a year between Guinness Ghana Limited and the Ghana Premier League.
He told the Committee that Guinness Ghana had approached the GFA with plans to make a major investment in the league, but the agreement was rejected by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
“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 said.
Okraku argued that the provision allowing the FDA to approve or reject sponsorship proposals from alcoholic beverage companies should be removed.
“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 told the Committee.
The GFA president said major alcohol brands continued to sponsor international football leagues, while Ghanaian sport was unable to benefit from similar commercial partnerships.
He said removing the restriction would give businesses greater scope to contribute to the development of football and other sports in the country.
Okraku also used his appearance before the Committee to outline wider challenges facing Ghana’s national teams. He identified poor playing surfaces, inadequate stadium facilities and insufficient investment in technical development as major barriers to sustained success.
According to Okraku, the GFA’s role was to provide logistics and create an environment in which football could develop. However, he said long-term progress would depend on wider and continuous investment beyond the association’s responsibilities.
He called for greater support for grassroots football, youth development and coach education, including opportunities for Ghanaian coaches to gain international experience.
The GFA president also highlighted the need for stronger scouting systems, better pitches for both young and senior players, and improvements to 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.
Okraku lamented that many of those facilities and structures were still lacking in Ghana. He warned that, without sustained investment in those areas, the country would continue to struggle to achieve consistent success in major football competitions.
