Corporate bodies must as a matter of priority consider helping in developing football talents as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has said.
He has, therefore, commended the McDan Group and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) for constructing sporting facilities for the people of La and Tema-Newtown respectively.
Mr Annoh – Dompreh, Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri said this on the floor of parliament yesterday in a statement aimed at enhancing the discovery of football talents in Ghana.
He said lack of infrastructure had for many years become an anthem being sang when performance fell short of required standards adding that it was time for Ghanaians at all levels to support the conscious effort towards producing quality artificial football parks in strategic areas across the nation to promote quality football.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh who is also the chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee said, one compelling case for the support and promotion of construction of artificial turfs was the deteriorating nature in the standard of football being played at both the national and local levels.
“Ghana’s prime team, the Black Stars, have for some time now struggled to exhibit their prowess in African international tournaments, not to mention the World Cup,” he said.
He said football development was challenged because the youth who would become future talents were compelled to make use of undeveloped football pitches, popularly referred to as “Sakora” parks, adding that, such parks could not help to produce world class talents to help the country re-discover its lost glory.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh said since there were so many underdeveloped parks in the country the government could developed another flagship programme to pursue “One Constituency, One Astro Park” initiative to enhance football development in the country.
He said already, the country had got the expertise through Wembley Sports led by Robert Tetteh Coleman, which had FIFA’s accreditation certificate in constructing quality and international standard artificial pitches saying, ”If Ghana proceeds and get artificial pitches across the country, it will revive the love for sports, not forgetting that talents will also be unearthed to positively impact the sport at the international stage.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh said such facilities could be used for health walks and related events to prevent people from using the roads at dawn which could be dangerous without reflectors.
He asked the new Ghana Football Association (GFA) President and his team to run the association more professionally to establish the basis for more support from corporate bodies.
By Lawrence Markwei
