Meet Kurt Okraku, the hand behind Dreams FC, Baba Rahman
Mr Kurt Edwin Simon Okraku is one of the newest administrators elected to the influential Ghana Football Association (GFA) Executive Committee, a position he said he clinched by dint of hard work and sound campaign message.
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The ambitious administrator, who is also the vice chairman of the MTN FA cup committee, is enjoying positive review from the Ghanaian populace for his efforts in development of football in the last four years and many football fans have tipped him to be appointed the next vice president of the GFA.
Okraku, who has just seen his Dreams FC club gain promotion to Ghana’s elite competition at the first attempt, says he is lifted by the overwhelming confidence from both the electorates and Ghanaians at large and is empowered to give off his best.
The experienced football administrator, whose Division One side Dreams FC spotted and nurtured Black Stars and Chelsea defender Baba Abdul Rahman, said he will welcome any other opportunity that will come next as a bonus.
Last Monday, the astute football consultant whose newly-promoted Division One side is noted for nurturing top class talents, granted an interview to Graphic Sports’ Beatrice Laryea and he shed more light on his obsession for football development and his experiences as an administrator. Below are excerpts.
Graphic Sports (GS): Congratulations on your election to the GFA Executive Committee.
Kurt Okraku (KO): Thank you very much.
GS: How does it feel to be elected onto the powerful GFA Executive Committee to be part of the group that takes all the important decisions for Ghana football?
KO: It’s a great honour to be offered the opportunity by our dear clubs to contribute towards the development of the sport
GS: What do you think motivated the electorates to vote for you?
KO: I believe over time key stakeholders in the industry have taken notice of my humble contributions towards the sport.
GS: What new ideas or initiatives are you bringing on board?
KO: I am primarily marketing and communication-biased person and I would want to offer my expertise to our sport at this level
GS: Mr. Fred Crentsil, the current vice president, lost his seat so now there is a huge task for Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi to appoint a new veep. Are you eyeing that position? In case the opportunity comes what will be your reaction?
KO: I am blessed to be offered the opportunity by the delegates to serve on the ExCo. Any other opportunity that comes up is a bonus.
GS: Do you have dreams of becoming GFA boss one day?
KO: No.
GS: What has been your biggest challenge in football administration?
KO: My biggest challenge has been the difficulty in getting everybody to understand my thoughts on the sport because it’s really not easy to get everyone to understand your thinking.
GS: How do you see Ghana football today?
KO: Ghana football has huge potentials and we must pull our capacity together to help it grow.
GS: What are some of these potentials you talk about?
KO: There is a lot of marketing potential in the local league. I think that we always need to consult a bit more and think outside the box to be able to drive the consumers of the sport to the various grounds.
GS: You were alleged to have linked coach Klaus Toppmoller to the GFA to be the technical director of the Black Stars when coach Kwesi Appiah was in charge. What do you have to say about that?
KO: I think I have on various platforms thrown that story to the gutters. There has never been an iota of truth in it
GS: Let’s talk about Dreams FC now. What inspired the establishment of that club?
KO: There is nothing like having your own dreams and working towards bringing those dreams into reality. My dream is to offer opportunities to kids from all walks of Ghana who have the potential to earn a living in the sport and, of course, to try to replicate what we learn in the classroom.
GS: What do you hope to achieve with Dream FC in the next five or 10 years?
KO: Build on the quality of our players, invest in infrastructure and try to develop our network of offering opportunities to our top talents.
GS: How has the club fared since its establishment?
KO: We have been blessed.
GS: Please explain that. What do you mean by we have been blessed?
KO: Well, we made it to the Premier League at our first try so we are blessed.
GS: Prior to your qualification for the Premier League, your club played all home matches at the Kweiman School Park, but management of your club is almost finalising negotiations to adopt the Dawu Park in the Eastern Region as your home grounds for next season. Why the change of venue?
KO: The people of Kweiman have been very supportive of our campaign for which reason we are forever grateful. However, the demands of campaigning in the premier league means we need to meet certain criteria to be able to compete. As a result, while we work on having our own pitch at Kweiman, we are also looking at where we can compete immediately, hence our choice of Dawu where we have been well received by the chiefs and people of the great traditional area.
GS: As an adviser to Baba Rahman, you declined selling him in 2012 to any European team. Why that decision?
KO: That was not the exact situation. At that time we had a lot of stellar clubs looking for his services, but we had to make a choice for the club which would offer him the best opportunity for career development.
GS: You were quoted by sections of the media as saying that it was insane to nurture and groom players without selling them. What is your reaction to that?
KO: Sure, I still stand by that….We all have to be real in our sport. In football, the biggest source of revenue is not sponsorship. It’s from player trading. When a player is sold to the international market, clubs in all tiers of our game have the chance to earn from it. So, if indeed player trading is our biggest earner, why must we stop? It does not make sense to me.
GS: Why did you part ways with the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA)?
KO: I was fed up with the leadership of the establishment.
GS: Where do you want to leave Ghana football?
KO: I am only one person. I will contribute my quota in strengthening the communication channels available to the industry, encouraging our clubs to commercialise our game more than we have and contribute my quota in strengthening the regulations of our sport.
GS: What in your opinion needs to be done to better the lot of Ghana football and the continent at large?
KO: There is the need to encourage the establishment of more football biased educational institutions and this will help develop the sport a hundred fold.
GS: Define your role as a football consultant. What do you do as a football consultant?
KO: I offer consultancy services in general football administration – media rights syndication, player trading, sponsorship syndication and many more.
GS: What is your inspiration in life?
KO: To continue to produce the best talents in Ghana and be noted for that worldwide.