Football: GFA president calls for review of alcohol sponsorship law
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Ghanaian Times
Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, president of the Ghana Football Association, asks Parliament to review restrictions on sponsorship by alcohol brands. He says the FDA blocked a deal worth more than 5 million dollars a year with Guinness Ghana, according to his statements to the sports committee.
The president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, is calling on Parliament to review restrictions on sponsorship by alcoholic beverage manufacturers, which he says have deprived Ghanaian football of significant investment, according to the Ghanaian Times.
Before Parliament’s sports committee, he explained that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) had refused to approve an agreement with Guinness Ghana, which would have provided more than five million dollars a year for the Ghanaian league championship. “We lost that deal,” he told the lawmakers. He also called for collective responsibility and investment in infrastructure, including pitches and stadiums, which he described as inadequate.
The official revealed that all national teams, including the Black Stars and the Black Queens, rely on a single bus bought in 2008, which is now broken down, forcing the federation to rent vehicles for travel. He also asked the government to scrap import duties on the Black Stars' kits, the men’s national team. Ghana has not won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for 44 years.
