Ghana Football Association (GFA) General Secretary, Prosper Harrison Addo, has hit back at claims by Hearts of Oak board member, Vincent Sowah Odotei, that the Ghana Premier League is a "dead product".
In an interview earlier today, Sowah had criticized the league's low attendance figures and questioned its marketing potential.
Addo, however, has dismissed these claims, stating that the health of football cannot be determined solely based on attendance figures.
According to Addo, there are several other parameters that FIFA considers when assessing the health of football in a country, including referee and coach training, youth development, and the number of national teams and games played.
Addressing concerns about the quality of pitches in the league, Addo explained that games have been spread out to accommodate all teams, and playing at selected venues is not always feasible due to community and team objections.
“I saw somebody write that Ghana football is dead, and I just smile because it's not attendance at one match or low patronage of our games that determine the health of football in a country. The match is not only about attendance," he told Akoma FM.
“There are so many parameters FIFA looks at when it comes to the health of football, some of these are your referees training, coaches education, youth development, and the number of national teams available together with the games they play,” Prosper Harrison Addo said.
“I know there have been complaints about pitches, but we have spread ourselves up for games to be played everywhere there is a team. We can't play them at some selected venues as the Media says because the community and the teams will not agree. We are better than others but also below the developed countries.
“We can't play the EPL standard now since the men for the job are unavailable, we just have to train them gradually.”