Tema Youth FC President, Wilfred Kwaku Osei ‘Palmer’ has revealed that his team has had a bit of challenges but they haven’t been exposed entirely as a result of the COVID-19.
In a special COVID-19 sports program on Happy 98.9FM with Ohene Brenya Bampoe dubbed; ‘Effects of COVID-19 on Football Clubs in Ghana.’ The Tema Youth Bankroller said. “My team has not been entirely exposed by COVID-19 in terms of foreign partners and supports. I’m not saying we are ok, technically we have challenges.”
“When I’m financially down, my team is also down because they have always seen me as Palmer the Bankroller; but the situation now is a bit different. There will be no way we will be back to where we left off after this pandemic. As we speak, clubs are owing players’ salaries because the revenues from gate proceeds that some use to pay players are no more.”
Last week on the same program the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Okraku asserted that the football industry is the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, clubs in the country are really suffering hence the need for the government to come to their aid.
“The Anas Number 12 exposé led to the unemployment of our players. There was a period where club owners really suffered because their business cycle came to a halt completely. And If you look at the football industry directly, we have given employment opportunities to a minimum of 5000 people across the country; as for Indirect employment, only God knows the numbers. So it wasn’t easy for stakeholders for two years without football, “he said.
