 |
| StarTimes are into partnership with GFA as the media house to televise Ghana premier league |
The Ghana Football Association is under heightened pressure to make a definite decision in the next few weeks regarding the future of the Ghana Premier League 2019/20 league season.
This year's league season came to an abrupt end, when the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, issued a directive to suspend major public gatherings of which football fell victim to as a result in order to curb the widespread of the outbreak coronavirus.
In the last few weeks, the Football Association has held series of meetings with the President's Covid-19 team to negotiate a possible return to the pitch, but that hasn't been fruitful.
Now with league's inactivity since March 15, Chinese-based firm, StarTimes, official partners of the Ghana Premier League are relentlessly pushing the association to ensure the continuation of the 2019/2020 season amid the coronavirus scare, which has claimed 44 lives, and over 8000 cases recorded in the country, Ghana.
The leagues major sponsors has seen a decline in it's financial base as brands are pulling out campaign ads and slash marketing budgets in this situation of Covid-19.
Interestingly, StarTimes released its first trench of the sponsorship deal to clubs via GFA an amount $30,000 since acquiring the rights for the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League.
Whiles some say, if the league is discontinued the clubs will miss out on the next trench from StarTimes.
Most of the clubs in the lower half of the league are proposing for a meeting with the GFA to air their grievances for a possible cancellation of the league even though they are faced with a major financial burden as a result of this situation.
It remains to be seen if the GFA after cobiso with major stakeholders of the league bow to the pressure of the leagues major sponsors,reach a compromise with the sponsors or act in the interest of the clubs in this troubling times.
By: JasonBannerman