The General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association, Prosper Harrison Addo, says a deal with betPawa to become the headline sponsor of the Ghana Premier League will not affect the integrity of the game.
The Ghana FA last week announced a three-year sponsorship deal with the betting company as the league’s headline sponsor ahead of the 2022/23 season.
With recent incidents of match manipulation in the country’s top flight, many have questioned the decision to bring on board betPawa.
However, Mr Addo believes their introduction will not compromise football in the country.
“Competition sponsorship doesn’t encourage betting and betting industries have their own way of marketing to their target market,” he said.
“betPawa is a regulated industry and the fact of the sponsorship does not encourage negative betting [betting which is not encouraged by the state].
“We have the national laws which allow betting, people under 18 cannot bet, as well as footballers.
“We will strictly monitor and sanction anyone who falls foul of the provisions we have.”
The commencement of the 2022/23 campaign has been scheduled for the weekend of September 9 to 12.