Let football unify nation - Veep

Sports page (lead), November 28/2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

THE Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Professional League Board (PLB) have jointly urged soccer enthusiasts to use the beauty of the game as a unifying force to maintain the peace and stability the country presently enjoys.
The heads of the two bodies said although the general elections were around the corner, it was important for football lovers to use the resumption of the local premier league to defuse whatever tensions that exist in the country prior to the elections.
The President of the GFA, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi and the chairman of the PLB, Mr Abra-Appiah, made the call at a dinner hosted by the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, at his official residence at Cantonments in Accra last Wednesday night.
The occasion was to fraternise with the football administrators, as well as share ideas on how to move football to an appreciable level.
Mr Nyantakyi said football had the power to unite people because different people from different clubs support a particular club and would always cheer together.
“Football is the biggest constituency and it is even bigger than the voters register’, he added.
Mr Nyantakyi described the Vice President as a major contributor to the development of sports in the country since his days as the chairman of one of the country’s formidable clubs, Real Tamale United (RTU).
“Alhaji Mahama was very instrumental in getting the various stadia refurbished and new ones built to host the CAN 2008, and we are proud of that”, he said.
Mr Appiah on his part reiterated the need for unity in the country through soccer.
He said the country was not at war because of the general elections and asked all to shift their focus on the soccer season so as to reduce the tension in the country.
Proposing a toast for the night, Alhaji Mahama said; “So clearly, football is about the only area of national endeavour where true democracy reigns”.
He said the fans participated and made their voices known at club and national level adding that “At the GFA level, performance is constantly under scrutiny and threat of voting from your peers”.
The Vice president urged the football family not to rest on their current achievements but work hard to capitalise on the opportunities derived from hosting the CAN 2008 and the reaching of the group stages at the recent World Cup.
“These events have marketed the domestic game to the world. Now there is modern state of the art infrastructure as well as enhanced revenues from sponsorship and international recognition’, he said.
He said the country needed to be careful with the democracy so they do not “throw out the baby with the bath water whenever we feel aggrieved”.