Who exactly are we asking Ghanaians to come and watch? - Kofi Adams questions Ghana Premier League's lack of star appeal
Ghana's Sports and Recreation Minister, Kofi Adams, has criticised the lack of publicity and visibility surrounding the Ghana Premier League ahead of the start of the new season.
Speaking at the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) 32nd Ordinary Congress at the Ghanaman Soccer of Excellence in Prampram, Mr Adams questioned whether the league had done enough to create stars and personalities capable of attracting supporters to stadiums.
"The new Ghana Premier League season is about to start. Who exactly are we asking Ghanaians to come and watch?" he asked.
"Who is the star? Who is the player every child is talking about? Whose jersey do young supporters want to buy? Who is the personality on the billboard?"
The Buem MP also challenged clubs to make better use of the growing number of media and digital platforms available to promote their players and competitions.
He said the league had previously benefited from players who became household names and major attractions for supporters.
"There was a time when Charles Taylor was an attraction. Dong Bortey was an attraction. Ishmael Addo, Stephen Oduro," he said.
"Supporters knew the characters of the league. They were heroes, the rivalries were deep and the personalities, as I have mentioned, could be identified."
Mr Adams said the current generation of clubs had more opportunities than ever to market their players, but questioned why those opportunities were not being fully exploited.
"Today, there are increased media platforms than we had in the past, and there are many other platforms we could use to do this, but who are they and where are they? Why are we hiding them? Or have we not been able to produce them?" he asked.