GFA can use StarTimes deal as leverage for more sponsorship - Okocha advises

Former Nigerian superstar and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Austin Jay Jay Okocha has called on the Ghana Football Association to use the StarTimes broadcasting deal for the Ghana Premier League to secure more sponsorship for the league.

According to him, the FA could use the deal to lure more sponsors on board to offer the clubs better financial assistance in the league.

'I'm so glad not just because StarTimes have taken the initiative to bring the Bundesliga to us here in Africa, but also because they have signed a deal to help promote the Ghanaian league;' Okocha said at a press conference held at the office of StarTimes as part of the Bundesliga legends tour.

'I think it's a great platform which the FA can leverage on, and that will give them the opportunity [to get more sponsorship]. If they [GFA] are creative - I will have to point that out - they can leverage on this platform [StarTimes] to get more endorsements from the corporate world," he added.

'Automatically, I believe that the image rights [of the GPL] will, and should, be up there now in order to attract the corporate world,' he added.

StarTimes have signed a ten year broadcasting deal with the Ghana FA for the Ghana Premier League which will see the Chinese firm pump a mouth-watering $17.9m into the league, give an OB Van to the federation and construct ten pitches in addition.