GFA boss urges AMA to leverage on football platform
The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt E.S. Okraku, has entreated the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) to use the Premier League platform and other events to position its brand and embark on educational campaigns to help advance its cause.
"From day one, we have been looking for ways to build very good relationships with state and private institutions because football cannot be managed in isolation. Football, as we all know, is the passion of the nation and it permeates every facet of our life,” he said.
Football platform
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“The football platform is huge and the AMA can harness the potential of the football platform. The AMA also has a huge platform where the football industry can also harness its potential and we think that we can do something together,” Mr Okraku said when he met AMA officials at the City Hall in Accra last Friday to discuss issues of mutual benefit in the Accra metropolis.
"From your side, we believe you do engage the community a lot and you can use the football platform to do so. We use TV a lot and if you are embarking on educational campaigns you can use the football platform. We are strong on social media as well. It is a win-win partnership we are looking for. You can use our Premier League platform in your brand positioning," he added.
Accra for Art initiative
For his part, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, welcomed a proposal from the GFA to support the city's beautification drive in line with a clarion call on corporate bodies and individuals to adopt, green and beautify open spaces in the city for the project dubbed #AccraforArt initiative which was launched in 2019.
The concept, which seeks to erect monuments and decorate public walls with colourful murals of football heroes, both past and present, was proposed by the GFA.
The Accra for Art project is an initiative to beautify the city to curb the indiscriminate posting of bills on public walls and to promote tourism.
Mayor Adjei Sowah noted that the assembly was working with a team of graffiti experts to get that done.
Astro turfs
He also noted that sports was a golden opportunity to turn around the economies of local communities and urged the GFA to take advantage of the introduction of Astro turfs in communities to bring back the vibrancy and excitement associated with local football since the proximity of sporting facilities in communities goes a long way to encourage and unearth talents.
"The introduction of Astro turfs in our communities has helped us to, first of all, capture the open space people had encroached upon. It has provided a modern field for playing football and I think the GFA must capitalise on this golden opportunity to bring back the vibrancy and excitement of local football because the proximity of sporting facilities in communities goes a long way to encourage and unearth talents," he said.
