Ashanti Regional Director of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Emmanuel Kojo Appiah, is lamenting the low patronage of Ghana’s top-flight league is having serious financial implications on the Authority.
He wants stakeholders including the GFA, NSA, Sports Ministry, the media and the clubs to, as a matter of urgency, do something about this occurrence to remedy the situation.
Ghana’s top tier league is witnessing poor turnout in terms of supporters who throng the various match centers to patronize the local league, a development that is rendering the local clubs financially handicapped.
Luv FM and Nhyira FM have launched a radio campaign to highlight factors affecting low attendance at premier league matches and championing recommendations to improve patronage of the local league.
The custodians of Ghana’s public sports facilities; NSA, usually collaborate with clubs like Asante Kotoko, Hearts of Oak, RTU, Accra Lions, King Faisal on matchdays after which, the authority takes 10% of the net proceeds after all deductions.
Luv Sports checks reveal, the NSA realized only GHS 594 when Kotoko played Bechem United on Boxing Day at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, because only 950 spectators purchased tickets to watch the game.
To make matters worse, the Authority generated nothing (GHS 0) when King Faisal hosted Nsoatreman FC at the famous Kumasi Sports Stadium in a week 10 fixture of the Ghana Premier League on New Year’s day.
This was after only 48 people purchased tickets to watch the game. So, the money accrued went into expenses of the matchday.
Luv Sports’ checks further revealed Asante Kotoko averaged 4,585 spectators at the Baba Yara Sports stadium in the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League which is about 11% of the stadium capacity of 40,618.
These figures clearly paint a true picture of the low patronage currently hitting the Ghana Premier League.
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Speaking to Stephen Zando on Luv FM on the campaign to improve attendance in the league, Emmanuel Kojo Appiah emphasized the urgency to curtail the trend which is suffocating the NSA in terms of revenue.
“It’s a serious headache to the authority and the burden is on NSA because when there is a low turnout, we turn to lose so much.
“To keep the place neat, tidy and then the pitch, the problem is how to get funds to maintain the place.
“The pressure is on NSA when the spectatorship is that low and we are not part of the sponsorship money of the GFA that, when spectators are not coming, use this to maintain the place.
“This month’s light bill was GHS 14,000 so if we play and we get zero and Kotoko’s FA Cup game against Bechem United you get GHS 500, you see that within a month, we are losing so much.
“So, it’s a huge problem that as soon as possible, the FA, the ministry, NSA, we should just sit quickly and see how best we can address the situation,” he said.
The common hashtag being used for the campaign is #FillGPLCenters.