GFA President, Kurt Okraku, has stated that the local football industry will need something close to a miracle or divine assistance to be fully relieved from stresses that began about three years ago.
According to the GFA boss, the local football scene has experienced tough times with the Anas documentary and the Coronavirus pandemic being the main issues.
The two incidents caused local football to go on a long hiatus and there is no certainty in relation to when it will return and Okraku admits that these two incidents have left the sector needing a massive reboot.
He was speaking at a programme organised on Wednesday via Zoom by Accra-based radio station Happy 98.9 FM and GTV Sports Plus to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on sports in Ghana.
“If there is an industry in this country that has suffered over the last four years, it is the football industry. I am saying this because of what we went through after ‘Number 12’ exposé when everything ground to a halt completely for almost two years where our male and female suffered as a result of no football activity.
There are about 5,000 people who are directly employed in the top flights of our football. So going two years without football was not easy because owners of clubs went through a lot.
Today, players are struggling to showcase their talent because of COVID-19. Club owners do not see their way clear because of this pandemic.
At a time when we thought the game was picking up, on came COVID-19 so the effect is unquantifiable. Even the media has been badly hit.
When I think about my colleague club owners, for instance, I have 5 clubs in Ghana, move to the 18 Premier League clubs, 48 Division One clubs, Division Two, Women’s League, Colts League.
As things stand, the football industry has really suffered within the last three years. For us to be on our feet again, God must intervene.”
The Ghana Premier League has not played since March 15 when the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo, announced a ban on public gatherings including sporting events.