Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has identified key factors contributing to the decline of the Ghana Premier League (GPL), describing the competition as being in a “sorry state.”
The country’s top-tier football league has been struggling with several challenges, including poor officiating, lack of sponsorship, and issues with broadcast rights. Hooliganism has also tainted the competition, with a tragic incident occurring during a Week 19 clash between Asante Kotoko and Nsoatreman, where a fan, Francis Frimpong “Pooley,” was fatally stabbed in Nsoatre.
Speaking to Luv Sports, Adams highlighted five major issues plaguing the league: underfunding, poor discipline, weak corporate governance, fan indiscipline, and inadequate security measures.
“Our Premier League is in its sorry state,” Adams admitted.
“Underfunded, poor discipline, [poor] corporate governance system, fan indiscipline, lack of security, we are not even coaching our fans.
“We need to look at all these areas to try and up our game.”
Adams, 49, was recently sworn into office by President John Mahama, who expressed concerns about the state of Ghanaian sports. In his remarks, the president described the sector as “in shambles” and tasked Adams with restoring the country’s sporting pride.
Adams takes over from Mustafa Ussif, who served as Minister of Sports from 2021 under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration led by Nana Akufo-Addo.