Ghanaian football has missed out on a potential $5 million annual investment in the Ghana Premier League after the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) blocked a proposed sponsorship deal with Guinness Ghana Limited, Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has announced.
Okraku said Guinness Ghana had approached the GFA with plans to make a substantial investment in the domestic league, but the deal collapsed after the FDA refused to approve the sponsorship because of restrictions on alcohol companies sponsoring sports.
“We were approached by Guinness Ghana Limited wanting to invest heavily in the Ghana Premier League. We did whatever we had to do. We had a series of meetings. At the end, FDA said no. The deal was, if I’m not mistaken, over $5 million a year. We lost it,” he said.
Speaking before Parliament’s Select Committee on Sports, Okraku criticised the restrictions, arguing that they deny football access to a significant source of private-sector funding.
He urged Parliament to lead efforts to remove the provision that gives the FDA authority to approve or reject sponsorship deals involving alcoholic beverage companies.
“That provision that allows FDA to say yes or no to sponsorship still exists within our books. If there’s one thing that you can do to help sports and football, that would be for you to lead the charge to completely take out that provision,” he added.
Okraku believes removing the restriction would open up new funding opportunities for sports organisations and help attract private investment into Ghanaian football.
His comments come amid concerns about the financial challenges facing the domestic game, with the GFA also struggling to meet some of its basic logistical needs.
