The Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kurt Okraku, has disclosed some key interventions and projects being undertaken by the FA to develop football in the country.
The GFA boss spoke about some programs and policies being undertaken by his administration at the 26th GFA Ordinary Congress held at the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence, Prampram on Tuesday with 91 out of the 126 members present.
He started with the initiative by the Executive Council to lobby government for 500 slots in the Youth in Sports programme under auspices of YEA for players in the Women’s Premier League to receive a monthly allowance of 500 cedis for six months.
He also mentioned that the GFA has secured a new van through the CAF/UEFA assist League development programme which will enable the technical team to travel across the country to scout for talents.
“I am glad to announce that through the programme, the GFA has secured a new Van for the Technical Directorate to enable our technical men and women to travel around the country to scout for talents and deliver soccer coaching clinics to coaches at the grassroots level”, the GFA president said at Congress.
Ghana was selected together with Rwanda for the pilot project of the CAF & UEFA Assist League Development Programme which includes eight training modules on key topics related to the development of leagues and operational planning leading to best practices.
He also touched on the FIFA Forward programme, which will see to the construction of boreholes across the various league centres to improve the quality and standard of pitches.
“The FIFA Forward 1.0 programme will also see an investment of $280,000 into boreholes at League Centres and Game Centres across the nation.
“Through the FIFA Forward 1.0 programme, there is going to be a construction of an Astro-turf for the people of Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region and another one at our technical centre”.
Kurt Okraku urged ‘football people’ to reject members who are tarnishing the image of the Association.
“There are a few of us who continuously go out of this family and go out to the public space to malign your product, my product, your business. We must reject these people”, he admonished.
“If I go to corporate Ghana on daily basis preaching Ghana football and yet some of us, just a few of us, continuously damage the image of the product we intend to love, that we spend our money on, we need to reject these people; we must say no to such people”.
“Football is the passion of the nation and the only sport that unites the country thus the need for a conscious effort to develop the game by creating wealth for everyone.
“Let’s come together and build our football. This is the sport that has made me who I am today. This is the sport that brings the country together”, he added.
By Herbert Boakye Yiadom
