Ghana Football will continue to suffer with GH¢200 as player salary – Saddick Obama

 

Renowned Sports journalist, Saddick Adams aka Sports Obama, has suggested player remuneration and general welfare should be of paramount interest in the reform process of the Ghana Football administration.

Saddick, who conducted a research into the salaries of Ghana league footballers between 2014 to 2016, says low player salaries and bad welfare  are the two main  problems that have affected the growth of the local game over the years.

Poor remuneration in the Ghanaian league is what explains the large-scale player migration to some exotic destinations even on the continent where wages are significantly higher. 

According to Saddick, most of the top players in the Ghana Premier League are paid between GH¢80-GH¢300 as their salaries, and even with these meagre amounts, the players can astonishingly go several months without being paid.

In recent years, a larger percentage of some of the most talented Ghanaian players end up in unpopular destinations such as Thailand, Bangladesh, Togo and even Benin.

Adding to that, the Ghanaian clubs have failed to attract quality talents from other countries due to their low financial standing.

The Atinka FM Head of Sport has opined that, there should be a salary cap of GH¢1,200 for players playing in the top flight and GH¢800 for those in the second tier.

” One critical aspect that has hindered the progress of the game is the low player rumeneration. The footballers are the principal actors of the game but sadly, we have failed to prioritise their welfare,” Saddick said

” How can one club in Ghana register over 50 players for the season and still not able to pay GH¢200 to these players when Real Madrid and Manchester United will register 25 players for the entire season?” he asked.

” Two seasons ago, the Most Valuable Player in the Ghana Premier League was paid a paltry GH¢250 a month and such a pathetic treatment pushed him out to another country”.

” I suggest that we make a significant decision with the player welfare. Clubs that cannot pay the set cap must lose their license in the top division. We cannot joke with footballers and their lives and think we will make football better”,

Many of the previous GFA officials  have argued that they are not able to pay good salaries to the players because of the bad economy of Ghana, a claim Saddick rejects.
” If they put forward the claim of the Ghana economy, I would ask about the Angolan economy, the Sudanese, the Zambian and Ethiopian”,

”Is it not in this same economy that the Black Stars used to receive the highest national team bonus in Africa?”.

” We just need to put checks and restrictions in place to ensure that sponsorship monies do not end in the pockets of greedy administrators but the footballers whose sweat sustain interest of fans”.

The Host of Sports Court on Atinka TV believes that, this move would help retain the best of talents in the Ghana Premier League and help improve its quality.

Ghana | Atinkaonline.com 
 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.