GHALCA boss blames E-ticketing, others for low attendance
THE Chairman of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), Kudjo Fianoo, has identified e-ticketing as among the multi-faceted issues that have contributed to the low patronage of the local league.
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According to him, Ghanaians were slow in adjusting to change and the electronic ticketing system had become a disincentive to fans going to the various league centres on match days.
Sharing his opinion with the Graphic Sports over why attendance at domestic league matches had nose-dived, he said other factors such as interest, poor facilities, the over-concentration on foreign leagues at the expense of the local league by the media and the absence of very skilful players were to be blamed for the decline in patronage.
''It is worrying and I think there is a need to find out exactly the root cause because I'm finding it difficult to pin my hand on only one issue because I spoke to somebody about his opinion and he asked me whether it is fair to pay money to come to the stadium and stand in the sun or stand in the rain?
''We are also talking about e-ticketing but I don’t want to blame e-ticketing alone because this thing started before e-ticketing. You know Ghanaians take a long time to adjust to a new system,'' he observed.
The GHALCA boss also described the lack of stars who would draw the fans to the stadium as another factor, as well as excitement in the game itself, stating, “the league is bereft of stars and doesn’t entice the fans to the stadium”.
Mr Fianoo, onetime Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Obuasi-based AshantiGold, also described the external factor where big European league matches were played at the same time as the Ghana league matches, which obviously would force fans to stay back and watch the foreign games at the expense of the local league.
He, therefore, encouraged the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to do their best to restore interest in the local league and urged the media to intensify publicity on the local league as a way of reviving interest in the local game.
''We must re-engineer and then bring back the interest. GFA did well with the 'Bring Back the Love ' but that is not enough. The media must also drum it home. It’s like we are also competing with foreign news. You open a radio station and it’s like the foreign segment dominates the local content,” he said.