The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Kurt Edwin Simeon Okraku, has announced mouth-watering prizes for the upcoming 2023/2024 Premier League Season, sponsored by betPawa.
At the official launch of the 2023/2024 season in the Eastern Regional capital of Koforidua on Tuesday, President Okraku announced that the winner of the yet-to-start betPawa Premier League would take home an amount of GH¢500,000 as prize money.
He further declared an amount of GH¢200,000, GH¢100,000, GH¢80,000, GH¢70,000 and GH¢60,000 as prize money for the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively.
Mr Okraku told the gathering that an additional amount of GH¢50,000, GH¢40,000,                           GH¢30,000 and GH¢20,000 had been set aside as prize money for the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth positions respectively.
Additionally, the GFA Capo disclosed that each of the eighteen participating clubs would receive an amount of GH¢330,000 each, as Marketing/TV Right for the season.
Per the betPawa sponsorship deal, each club would be entitled to an amount of GH¢275,000, while an additional GH¢50,000 would be paid to the clubs for Colts Development.
This means that the winner of the 2023/2024 betPawa Premier League would walk away with a staggering amount of GH¢1,155,000.00, while GH¢855,000 would go to the 2nd placed club, and the third position club would receive GH¢755,000.
The fourth position would take home GH¢735,000; GH¢725,000 for the fifth position, whilst GH¢715,000, GH¢705,000, GH¢695,000, GH¢685,000 and GH¢675,000 would be received by the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth positions respectively.
The Chronicle does not only find this new development to be impressive, but also a great incentive that would go a long way to ease the financial burdens on the clubs.
It is our belief that the initiative would also help to make the league more competitive at all times, as the announced figures could serve as a high motivational factor to improve the quality of the local game.
This is, because, football enthusiasts always feel the urge to develop a keen interest in highly competitive games, which produce so much fun with lots of excitement and unpredictable outcomes.
However, the lack of adequate funding for clubs on the other hand has its own ways of affecting the quality of the game which inadvertently affects the integrity of the league.
Undeniably, the number of followers of the local league keeps dwindling at a fast rate in recent times, as many soccer lovers have developed a deeper interest in foreign leagues, particularly the EPL and the La Liga.
The Chronicle, therefore, supports any form of innovative ideas that would make the local league more interesting and competitive to bring back its past glory.
For instance, in the past, local players did not have to struggle to get call-ups into the national teams, especially the Black Stars, but the same story cannot be told today, as many often question the quality of individual players in the league.
In fact, the inability of local players to get call-ups into the senior national team is a major concern that must engage the attention of all stakeholders to collectively work closely to improve the game locally.
It is in the light of this that the paper wants to doff its hat to the president of the GFA and all major stakeholders who have made this giant initiative a reality to bolster the competitiveness of our league.
Though the overwhelming support and the prize money the clubs are going to receive cannot cater for all their needs and wants, we passionately believe that it could have a far-reaching impact in ameliorating their plights.
The paper would passionately want to appeal to President Okraku and his other executives to, as a matter of urgency, consider the other aspects of the game, in their quest to bring back the love of the local league.
The beauty of the game is not only determined by the amount of money each club earns at the end of the season, but there are other components such as officiating, the quality of pitches, and the quality of cameras used for live telecast.
We, therefore, call on President Okraku and his lieutenants to adequately resource all officiating officials, as well as others who have any role to play, as far as our quest to improve the local game is concerned.
This, we believe, would not only make the league competitive, but also go a long way to protect the integrity of our cherished game, and that this must just be the beginning for others to follow. Â Kudos to GFA!
