Happy Man Bitters plunged into football with the sponsorship of Aduana Stars, Berekum Chelsea, and other lower division sides, as they tested the feasibility of investing in the nation's most loved sport, according to the multiple-award-winning Chief Executive Officer.
After the Anas expose on football activities in the country the company had to take a step back to rethink their involvement in football in Ghana.
Speaking to EBN an Accra based media outfit he said:
“Before the Anas exposè, Happy Man Bitters as a brand, we had a management meeting to sponsor the Ghana premier league,”
“But we said, let’s start with some clubs, so we sponsored the National Circles Council of Asante Kotoko, Aduana Stars, Berekum Chelsea. We also sponsored local teams across the regions, which included Upper East, Kasana Nankana Football club,” he continued.
In the near future, he believes Kasana Nankana will eventually qualify for the top-flight and repeat the feat accomplished by Aduana Stars, where they won the Ghana Premier League in their maiden season.
“They [Kasana Nankana] are doing well and I know a year or two, they will come to Ghana Premier League and win the Ghana Premiership title, that is where I will derive my joy.”
Though the proposal to fund half of the Ghana Premier League clubs has yet to take shape, Dr. Bortey feels the new GFA administration is on the right track.
“We were thinking of sponsoring half of the Premiership club before we sponsor the entire Premiership but it couldn’t happen,”
“When the new FA was set up and the Normalization Committee handed the affairs of football to them, we realized they were on course which we were happy as a brand, we are happy about it. Unfortunately, out of a blue, the Coronavirus came in,"
Dr. Bortey affirmed the commitment of Happy Man Bitters to soon sponsor the league on a long term basis.
“Yes we plan to sponsor the GPL but we haven’t yet come to finality on the decision, management has not really come out, it’s still on deliberation. So I don’t want to say anything about it now, but it’s our wish. Once we planned to do it, we can do it,”
“But we try to see the avenues and modalities we can use to enter because, the brand Happy Man bitters, we don’t want to enter into a sponsorship or a project and do it a year or two and leave it, no that’s not our brand,” he continued.
“We have this Happy Man Inter communities Gala which has been in existence for the past six years [2014 to 2019]. Last year we had awesome finals where the likes of the current coach for Black Stars, coach CK Annokor, Hamza Mohammed, Meadeama coach, Samuel Boadu graced the finals and I was happy they were able to unearth some talents,” he added.