Ghana: Minister for Sport adds up cost of Premier League returning in lockdown

Ghana’s Minister for Sport Isaac Asiamah has confirmed long-standing fears over the difficulty of resuming the country’s Premier League whilst still in lockdown due to cost.

All competitive football matches have been cancelled in Ghana since March 15 as part of the government’s measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Mr Asiamah was not optimistic about the sport returning at a professional level any time soon.

He said, "I charged the director, the NSA [National Sports Authority] boss [Peter Twumasi], to look at even playing [football] in empty stadiums across the country and the figure he quoted is a huge challenge.

“It's not only about going to play but putting in place measures to observe all these precautionary measures - how to [safely] keep the players at a hotel and how to also disinfect all the stadiums across the country.

"Not only that, testing is key, we need to test each player. And in our environment is it possible to play football without supporters? It is a major challenge so these are the issues we are considering.

"The figure which came out from the NSA is about GHC60,000 per match, and this is huge. For me, it's not even about the money; it is about the lives of our footballers, how do we ensure that they are safe at these league centres? So, it's an issue we are still resolving."

Photo: Goal Ghana