Uncertainty surrounds finals of GHALCA knockout

Accra, Sept 2, GNA - There is a growing uncertainty surrounding the finals of the maiden GHALCA special Knockout competition as the organisers are yet to find a suitable date.

This is in view of the new tight calendar of the Professional League Board (PLB), the body mandated to organise the local league.

In an interview with the GNA Sport on Thursday, Mr Kudjo Fianoo, Administrative Manager of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) said the new calendar by the PLB practically makes it impossible for the match to come off at the weekend.

He said even though the PLB calendar is yet to be approved by the association, the situation on the ground points to the fact that the finals can only be played now depending on the schedule of Kumasi Asante Kotoko who are one of the finalists.

Mr Fianoo said at the moment, all depends on Kotoko since "We have to fix it on a day that will be favourable for them bearing in mind that they would be playing continental club football as well as participate in the domestic scene".

He said GHALCA's first option is to organise the finals on the Wednesday before Kotoko travel to play Al Hilal of Sudan in their Confederations Cup Group A match.

"But this date is also subject to the flight connections of Kotoko, because if they decide to travel after Wednesday, then the match would be possible, but if they should leave earlier then we would have to look for another suitable date."

GHALCA recently organised a special knockout competition for all premier league clubs to keep them busy whilst at the same time creating an avenue for the clubs to make money when the league went on a long break for the National Under 23 team, the Black Meteors prepare and participate in the just ended Athens Olympics soccer competition. The Special Knockout is currently at the finals with Kotoko and RTU meeting at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Mr Fianoo said even though the competition did not go as they all wanted, they are happy with what had transpired so far, having in mind that it is the maiden competition and the first time in many years that a knockout competition is being organised in the country.

He said the Kotoko and Fiasal two legged semi finals alone grossed about half a billion cedis and information from Tamale also indicates that there was a massive turn out for the RTU and AshanteGold semi final match.

Mr Fianoo said they are not only considering the success of the competition in terms of patronage but also by the fact that teams like RTU who do not normally get teams to travel up north to engage in friendly matches were able to get clubs to travel up north for the knockout matches.

He said GHALCA intends to make the competition an annual programme as there are not many contests to keep the local players busy all year round.