George Afriyie has called on the leadership of the Ghana Football Association [GFA] to get rid of betting syndicates and poor officials to make the local topflight attractive.
The issue of betting in the local top flight has been a major issue for the country's football governing body.
With the 2022/23 betPawa, Premier League scheduled to kick off this weekend, the former vice president of the Ghana Football Association [GFA] believes the recent emergence of betting syndicates on the Ghanaian football scene has negatively affected attendance and the interest of supporters in matches.
According to him, the GFA must deal with it to make the local topflight attractive.
“There must be a reason why people are not watching our games," he told Citi Sports. "When supporters are going to the field that the outcome of the game is already predicted, why do you expect someone to go and watch the game?”.
“If we can erase these betting activities and poor officiating from our league, why not? Last season, a number of the matches were predicted long before they were played. These are the things that are not helping.
“Football is a passion game, so once the passion is lost, no one wants to follow football. Let’s encourage the FA to do more, to be fair. We should root out the betting syndicates in our game," he added.
AshantiGold and Inter Allies have been banned from playing in the top flight following their involvement in a match-fixing.