Vice President John Mahama has stressed that government has no intention of interfering in the work of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) but will instead, continue to support the association to discharge its responsibilities.
"Government recognizes the potency of football as the only one sport which unites us as a people and is always willing to partner the GFA and other stakeholders to support soccer attain its highest potential in the country," he said.
Inaugurating the newly built FIFA-sponsored multi-purpose dining and conference facility at Prampram in the Dangme West District of the Greater Accra region, Vice-President Mahama observed that the successes chalked by Ghana in soccer recently could not have been possible without the close collaboration of the government and the GFA.
"Government appreciates the good work the GFA has done to develop football in Ghana and will continue to support the Association to discharge its responsibilities," he emphasized.
The dining and conference facility is the third major project to be sponsored by FIFA under its Goal Project, which aims at assisting member associations to build infrastructure in their respective countries for the development of football.
The first goal project also in Prampram, involved the construction of a technical centre and the second project was the construction of the head office premises of the GFA in Accra. According to the authorities, plans are afoot for the construction of a soccer academy in Prampram as Goal project four.
Vice-President Mahama said the current stage of the development of football in the country made it imperative for the GFA to put in place policies and programmes to encourage footballers to go to school.
"This will make our footballers multi-skilled and also provide them with alternative opportunities for active engagement later in life when they retire from active soccer," he said, adding that "pursuing soccer as a career does not preclude one from attaining ones' potential in other areas of human endeavour."
On the meeting in Sudan next month of African football chiefs, to elect members of the executive committee of CAF, the Vice-President implored the 20 African football presidents who graced the inaugural ceremony at Prampram to support the candidacy of Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, Ghana's FA president.
That, he said, would perhaps be the only way to reward hard work and also encourage higher performance and recognition. "It is our view that Ghana deserves every encouragement to have a place on the Executive Committee of CAF," he stressed.
Mr. Sampon Kablan, FIFA Development Officer in charge of West Africa said through financial support of FIFA over the years, Ghana had been developing its technical centre at Prampram on a 100-acre land.
He said FIFA's continuous assistance was set on certain criteria namely, prudent management, good governance and commitment to the realisation of targets.
Kwesi Nyantaki, GFA president pointed out that improving the infrastructural base of the game was the only way to sustaining the high standards and dynamism of the sport. "We are very much excited that we are on the same wavelength in the development of the game," he added.
Nii Nortey Duah, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, on his part thanked FIFA for its continuous support to the development of football in Ghana and hoped that it would be extended to the lesser known sports.
Thanking the chiefs and people of Prampram for making available large tracts of land for a worthy cause, he urged them to support the authorities to prevent the land from encroachment.
Story: Irene Ata-Donto
26/1/11
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