Aduana Stars striker Yahaya Mohammed warns of Covid’s effect on Football

Ghanaian striker Yahaya Mohammed this week warned of the long-term damage Covid-19 could have on the country’s football league. 

All public sports matches have been suspended since March 15 as the Ghanaian government issued measures to control the spread of the disease. 

Players and clubs were left stranded as a result of the suspension with no games left to secure league titles, and some clubs fearing for loss of financial backing from advertisers. 

Now it appears that Ghana has managed to curb the virus’ spread, and as a result the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is considering opening up the League again. For Yahaya Mohammed, however, the virus still poses problems with regards to fairness in league position. 

Speaking to Citi sports, Yahaya said “Cancelling the league is not a problem and resuming the league is also not a problem but the decision taken must be to the benefit of Ghana football and not any individual”.

“For instance, if I was a division one team on top of the league heading to the Premier League and you take the decision to cancel the league, it won’t favour us.

“If the league is cancelled and restarted, what is the possibility that such a team will be back on top?

“You can also talk about the sponsorship situation with the Division One League, there is no sponsorship, so it is a difficult decision to take.”

The Ghana Football Association is due to make its decision at the end of the month, but pressure from lack of sponsorship and advertising revenue mean that league restarting is likely. 

Photo: Football Made in Ghana