Politicians have an inexplicable cussedness. If you want proof, the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) manifesto on sports serves the purpose.
When the New Patriotic Party (NPP) released its manifesto, it was heavily scrutinized. I, for one, asked questions about the repeated promises and the deafening silence on the majority of the promises they had failed to deliver.
One would have thought that the public discourse, which was hardly complimentary to the NPP, would have meant something to their adversaries; a chance a tweak theirs to reflect a certain appreciation of what the public want and see as their priorities for the sector.
No. In typical tone deafness of the political class, the NDC reworded a lot of promises that they had failed to deliver while in government, and without so much as an explanation on what happened, rebranded them for us. “Chale, the truth be say dem no dey rate we”, to borrow a popular Gen-Z saying.
Former President and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama
But what are the key points in the NDC Manifesto on sports?
The Bad.
First things first. The idea to support the salaries of Premier League players with allowances is a hard sell.
Drop it like a bad attitude.
It should not be the taxpayer’s responsibility to fund a private business’s expenditure. If club owners cannot afford to pay decent salaries, then they have no business operating a football club.
The only sustainable means of supporting these clubs is to ensure they are run on sound financial principles.
How do you achieve this? By strengthening the licensing requirements for clubs. Ideally, the club licensing regulations at the Ghana Football Association should be enough for this purpose.
However, its relaxed implementation means, clubs who cannot even fund a full season’s operational expenses, are allowed to compete each year. Last season, Real Tamale United impersonated its players by fielding unregistered players for a league match.
Their players had refused to play for the club following RTU’s inability to pay salaries for more than six months. What did the GFA do? They were only fined GH¢100,000, while its officials were handed one-year bans.
But the root cause of the problem remains unresolved and RTU will participate in the Division One League when it starts on September 27, 2024, with another batch of employees who they cannot pay.
This is why the government needs to introduce legislation that will ensure that through the sports ministry, they issue a special business operating license for clubs.
Clubs in good financial standing will then be eligible for the support packages available to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Speaking of which, there is a government initiative called the SME Growth and Opportunity Program.
It was launched in July and seeks to “ensure the targeted delivery of financial and technical support to high-growth potential SMEs.” Up to GH¢8.2 billion has been set aside for the program.
Under this scheme, the government will support selected banks with some GH¢ 700 million to offer SMEs highly subsidized financial support for both capital and operating expenditures and offer capacity-building to program beneficiaries.
Part of the loan requirements would be an agreement to invest a percentage into raising assets such as training and hostel facilities, office complex etc., with reasonable timelines. These loans could be released in tranches and only after the clubs have met targets for the agreed period.
To keep the fund running, clubs could contribute a small amount to it periodically. One of the revenue sources for this contribution could be the 10% of all foreign transfers currently paid to the GFA. A percentage split could be reached.
After assessing these loans for a period, the beneficiaries would have grown thanks to the financial and technical support. They would then make way for other eligible clubs to benefit.
If the idea to support football clubs with allowances was crazy, the promise to build new stadiums was even worse. It is unrealistic at best.
At worst, it is a needless, badly thought-through, poorly-consulted concept.
Why do we need eight, probably more, stadiums when we cannot even maintain any of the existing facilities? The stadiums at Essipong, Tamale, and Ho continue to rot away.
As we speak, the Accra Sports Stadium and Baba Yara Stadiums can only host international events with conditional approval.
If the existing facilities were properly maintained, why would we need eight additional stadiums?
Assuming without admitting that such an infrastructural deficit existed, how will the NDC government fund such projects?
The Good.
Upgrading the Winneba Sports College to a sports university. That is the game changer.
Sports in Ghana are currently run on old-fashioned ideas, executed by administrators who cannot see beyond national team per diems and bonuses or the next procurement contracts for Federations.
There are hardly any revolutionary concepts around. There is therefore the need to revamp the space with fresh ideas from top brass executives, right down to physios and kit men.
Such a University could train elite athletes and coaches down here in Ghana, without relying on the United States collegiate system.
If this does not end up as another empty campaign promises or badly implemented, this will be a game changer in every sense of the word.
Low-hanging fruits.
The party has also promised to undertake the emergency refurbishment of pitches, tracks, and other national stadia.
On Monday, the CAF’s conditional approval of the Baba Yara Stadium for Ghana’s AFCON 2025 Qualifier versus Angola became public knowledge. The subsequent warning to send Ghana’s future home matches away, was publicized too.
Not that we needed to be told anyway. For the best part of a decade, Ghana has relied on CAF’s leniency to host official matches. Even the playing surface, which is perhaps the most basic requirement, is nothing to write home about.
In Athletics, Ghana’s elite performers do not turn up for domestic meets partly because the tracks here do not meet international standards. So any performance here is a complete waste of their time.
So by all means fix the pitches and the tracks. While at it, equip the National Sports Authority to maintain them on a long-term basis. These emergency fixes cannot be an everyday thing.
While on the topic of facilities, might I add the party’s promise to build more multi-purpose sports facilities? Why build more when the current government has not and will most likely not complete nine out of the ten facilities they started?
In July 2023, the National Youth Authority told JoySports that they had spent over GH¢119 million on the facilities. Yet, only the facility in Koforidua has been completed, six years after projects that were supposed to be ready in nine months, started.
The prudent thing to do would be to investigate the contracts and scope of work done so far.
Without a proper audit, any further expenditure risks suffering the same fate as the over GH¢119 million that has been spent already.
Whatever you make of the manifesto, there are fundamental questions for the NDC to answer.
What are the revenue sources for all these promises?
We just made a $245 million outlay on the African Games, is this economy which by the way is still in austerity, in the position to support capital projects like the NDC are promising?
If, or when he wins the elections, Mr. Mahama can only govern for four years. How does he intend to do all this in one, four-year term?
Ghanaians would like to know.
Source: Victor Atsu Tamakloe