Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) secretary, Oduro Nyarko has cited lack of funding for the cancellation of the famous Top 4 competition.
The tournament, which was originally scheduled to kick off on August 6, was called off by the organizers at the weekend.
GHALCA President, Kudjoe Finaoo, had previously announced SuperSport as the main broadcast partner for the competition.
However, despite the initial plans, the organizers were unable to secure enough sponsorship to proceed with the event.
“It is an association, so we decide what is good for us. No one can dictate for us, we have the support from our members not to embark on activity and run at a lost so they understand. You cannot organize such a huge tournament without sponsors, how can you fund it? He asked.
“Such tournament requires prize money, appearance fee, medals and a lot of stuff and so, without sponsors you cannot embark on such competition. We tried our best to seek for sponsors but companies we contacted were not ready because they have exhausted their budgets for the year. They were only willing to sponsor next year and so you have to understand”
“We are not perturbed by the backlash from the public, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion but the reality is, we did not get money to fund for the top 4”
The GHALCA Top 4 tournament is a popular pre-season event that traditionally features the top four clubs from the previous campaign.
This year, it was set to include Ghanaian champions Medeama, Aduana Stars, Bechem United, and Bibiani GoldStars. Bibiani GoldStars expressed their interest in replacing Asante Kotoko, who had withdrawn from the competition.
Unfortunately, without sufficient financial backing, the organizers were forced to make the difficult decision to cancel the tournament.