Headline sponsors of the Black Stars, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) look set to re-direct their sponsorship of the Black Stars to help develop grassroot football, develop pitches and support the Ghana Premier League. The move is believed to be high on the agenda of the new administration of the firm who reckon that the Black Stars is viable enough to look for alternative means of funds aside government taking care of them already. Current boss of GNPC, Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong in an exclusive interview with Happy FM was however not emphatic on their next step with regards to their sponsorship to the Black Stars since he has just assumed office but was keen to point out that he believes in developing the game from the grassroot, developing pitches and ultimately supporting the Ghana Premier League. Speaking on Anopa Bosuo Sports, Dr. Sarpong argued further that if enough money is pumped into the local league and sponsorship money is shared according to the places on the league log and not equally, match-fixing will be reduced drastically. “I just resumed office as GNPC boss and I really haven’t had time to go through details of the contract with Football Association but I think the Black Stars is a viable brand that can look for funds to support itself, especially as government already offers them some funding for their activities. I have been in football administration so I know what pertains on the ground. We may look at supporting grassroot football and help develop some pitches across the country because the pitches our clubs play on are horrible.” Dr. Sarpong asserted. “Supporting the Ghana Premier League is one thing we could also consider. If there is enough sponsorship for the local league, the canker of match-fixing could be curbed. We must move away from paying clubs equally from sponsorship funds to paying clubs according to their place on the league log. If we’re able to pay the winner of the league $200,000, second $150,000, third $100,000 and fourth $50,000, why would clubs play fixed matches? Clubs will not be motivated to fix games because they know that if they place well on the league log, their prize money will increase.” Dr. Sarpong added. Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) have been the headline sponsors of the Black Stars with a $3 million since 2013.
Source: Happyghana.com