Ghanaian clubs are set to move to the next level in their CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup campaigns with the Presidential candidate of the NDC – John Mahama – promising to fund their participation in Africa club competitions.
This according to the former President will be prioritized by the next NDC government.
The former president, now the flag bearer of the leading opposition party – NDC – acknowledges the heavy financial burden on club in such competitions, borne out of air travel and accommodation expenditure.
Club will, therefore, not be confronted with the headache of sourcing for funds for such competitions as the next NDC government will specifically cater for that through the Sports Fund.
Emphasizing on the Sports Fund, the charismatic politician whose government has seen Ghana win the U20 World cup in 2009 and the Black Star reaching the finals of the AFCON in 2010 and 2015 insists his leadership will provide seed money for the fund.
“My government will put in a seed fund and every company that will put in money, we’ll be treated as an expense for them,” the former Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi made the pronouncement during the Party’s second manifesto launch at the Town Hall Meeting at KNUST.
“They can deduct it from their tax as we’re keen to develop the sports fund so that it’ll help our sports men and women to be paid well.
“It’s so disheartening when sometimes our clubs don’t have money to pay for their trips to Africa. The Sports Development Fund will help cut off that stress so that they can bring trophies back to Ghana,” Mahama deduced.
The urge to fund clubs in CAF club competitions will be the second big promise by the presidential candidate of the NDC after the party’s communication manager revealed players in the Ghana Premier League will be paid a monthly salary of ₵1,500 a few days ago.
Mahama says this combined effort will bring more interest in Ghanaian local game while helping club to win laurels in Africa which is now the preserve of North African clubs who are heavily funded by their governments.
But supporters of the NPP in the football family say they already pay for clubs who reach the group stage of the international clubs competitions by splashing $200,000 for those playing in the CAF Champions League while $150,000 goes to CAF Confederation Cup teams.
Ghanaian clubs have struggled on the continental stage recently as they struggle to retain their players because of the lure of playing for foreign clubs because of poor salaries on the local scene.
Clubs that also manage to qualify for Africa find it difficult raising money to pay for their travel expenses because of the expensive nature of travel within Africa.
This is the big effort by all the political parties in the country to woo football fans who also vote along the lines of governments seen to be sympathic towards the cause of sports in the country.
The NDC, who are the leading opposition Party in the country, launched their manifesto a week ago in which they outlined the welfare packages for athletes, including footballers on the local scene.
According to the manifesto released, the Party will assist the Ghana Football Association to pay each player in the top-flight ₵1,500 a month to ensure the best players are retained in the country.
The NDC have also promised to wrap up the construction of the New Edubiase Sports Stadium, upgrade the Winneba Sports College into a state-of-the-art Sports University with campuses across the country and Build sports recreational facilities in communities in every district.
