News
President Edwin Simeon-Okraku delivers message of hope and rallies support at Brong Ahafo “Meet The Press”
President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku delivered a message of hope as he rallied support for Ghana Football during an interactive and heart-warming edition of the GFA’s ‘Meet The Press’ Series held in Sunyani on Friday August 9, 2024.
In a well attended event hosted at the Eusbett Hotel, the President urged for collaborative efforts between the media and the Ghana Football Association for the forward march of football in the country.
In a detailed address to the media in Sunyani, President Simeon-Okraku touched on several areas of interest including, but not limited to sponsorship, support for clubs, financial sustainability, refereeing, acts of violence, youth development, Catch Them Young Referee policy, Premier League media rights and betting.
The President also touched on Governance, Competitions, Coach Education, the new-look Technical Centre at Bolgatanga and Prampram, implementation of Football Strategy, support for RFAs’, National Teams, Youth Competitions, Registration of juvenile players, use of social media and Parliamentarians who have taken interest in investing in football directly.
President Edwin Simeon-Okraku also used the opportunity to address allegations levelled against his administration relating to perceived influencing of Referees and perceived bias in the decision to divide the National Division One Zone 1 into two subzones.
He stated that every policy of the Football Association is targeted at the greater good of the game.
“I stand for Ghana Football. The Exco stands for Ghana Football and not for individual Clubs. Whatever polices we make, or decisions we take are for the greater good,” he said
He said, “The claim that the GFA or myself control or have interest in referees are completely false and must be disregarded. It’s just a creation of a non-existent theory.”
While admonishing media practitioners to be circumspect and get acquainted with the laws of the game and their interpretation, the President asked the media to help him to educate Football fans to curb hooliganism which has no place in football, and to protect the Ghana Football brand.
“Under no circumstance should a referee lose his life for getting a decision wrong. Let’s take hooliganism in any form out of our game. The product is supreme. We should hold and protect the product,” he said.
According to him, “We must also be abreast with the laws and their interpretation because what you say impacts the emotions and opinion of supporters and largely contributes to some of the negative vibes around our domestic league.”
He underscored the vital role played by the media in creating an enabling environment for football to thrive and urged stakeholders to uphold the tenet of honesty.
The GFA President further said, “Without the media, we cannot create the enabling environment for footballers and administrators to deliver football and footballing products. We must be honest. And being honest is the way forward for all of us.”
He added that “At club level, no money is small money. We have to be clever on how we can deliver our football platforms for people to be interested in them.”
He also said the Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association is working hard to put the National Division One League (DOL) Live on television.
“The vision of the Executive Council of the GFA is to put the National Division One League on TV. We are working extremely hard towards achieving that,”he assured.
Ahead of the engagement with the media, President Simeon-Okraku paid a visit to the Brong Ahafo Regional Football Association (BARFA) Secretariat where he met with the Regional Chairman, his Executive Committee and staff of the Secretariat.
The President will also meet with Premier, Women and Division One League Clubs from the region to discuss ways in which the FA could be of greater help to them.
The GFA’s decision to hold the session in Sunyani highlights the Association’s efforts to engage with all Football regions across the country to foster greater transparency and inclusivity in its operations.
This is the second time the President will be engaging the media in the ‘Meet The Press’ series after the first one was held in Kumasi back in February 2024.
News
UNODC partners GFA Foundation on Prison advocacy and mentorship programme
The GFA Foundation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have agreed to work together to advocate for anti-discrimination and the elimination of stigmatization for prisoners and prisons.
This partnership was agreed, in principle, during a meeting at the Home of Football (GFA Head Office) between the Director of the GFA Foundation and the UNODC Team led by Mr. Christoph Capelle, an Associate Expert in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Coordinator of the prison and penal reform project in Ghana.
Welcoming the Team to the Home of Football, the Director of the GFA Foundation, Mr. Malcolm Frazier Appeadu briefed the team about the GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project which has covered 6 prisons across the country already.
He indicated that the Foundation is liaising with the Ghana Prisons Service to commence the second and third pillars of the project, which are the coaches and referees training programs as well as the advocacy and mentorship initiatives.
He said that the GFA Foundation will welcome partners for the execution of the second phase of the project which will include Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, Kumasi Central Prison, Sekondi Central Prison and three other prison facilities.
In his response, Mr. Christoph Capelle commended the GFA for the GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project which seeks to use the power of football to promote the wellbeing, reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates of Ghana’s prisons into society.
Mr. Capelle said that UNODC is looking forward to a collaboration with the GFA Foundation on possible programs for both the medium and long term to support football and sports jobs and skills development in Ghana’s prisons.
He extended an invitation to the GFA Foundation to be part of an assessment of overall prison rehabilitation programmes including the use of sports by their international consultant at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison.
There will be a football match and donation of footballs, sports items and equipment to the prison facility.
Present at the meeting were Mr. Kwame Koramoah, an officer at the GFA Foundation and Integrity Office, Helena Adobea Ofori, Associate Programme Officer, UNODC and Caleb Elorm Agodzo, Administrative Officer, UNODC.
It will be recalled that in 2020, The UNODC and FIFA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to tackle corruption and crime in and through sports and pledged to consider ways in which football can be used as a vehicle to strengthen youth resilience to crime and substance use through the provision of life skills training.
The MOU was renewed last year by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
News
Gomoa West: NPP, NDC supporters clash over commissioning of DRIP equipment
Supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday morning clashed over the commissioning of machinery for the District Road Infrastructure Project in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region.
According to Citi News sources, the conflict began when NDC supporters questioned the decision to display images of Bismark Basie Nkum, the NPP’s Gomoa West parliamentary candidate on the DRIP machinery.
This disagreement quickly escalated, almost leading to a physical altercation between the two groups.
Baisie Nkum, who doubles as the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa West, further claimed that the Member of Parliament for the area, Richard Gyan Mensah, brandished a pistol and issued threats against the NPP’s local leadership.
A viral video circulating on social media captured the DCE accusing MP Richard Gyan Mensah of pulling out a gun and threatening NPP supporters during the heated incident.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
