DELIVERED TO THE ROTARY CLUB ON THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2006 AT THE GOLDEN TULIP HOTEL .
1.0 Football As An Emerging Industry
• No gainsaying the fact that football is now big business but should be in
true sense of the word than just lip service;
• Every profession needed in any growing business or industry is also needed in
Football, not the game but the industry;
• Believe we seem to be more glued to the game aspect than the new phenomenon
as a business;
• It is about time those who see it as such got involved to make the changes
possible;
• Indeed, a casual look at transfer figures for some players will inform us of
what we are dealing with – Charles Taylor’s over ¢1.5 billion fees from
Hearts F/C to Kotoko F/C and lastly, Gawu’s ¢600 million from King Faisal F/C
to Hearts of Oak F/C;
• Better still, let’s look at how much the government spend annually on the
national teams, camping, trips, training tours, bonuses and all. Why don’t we
decide for a moment to look at the economic impact of all these?;
• For me personally, the hosting and organisation of the 1st Accra Football
Expo from March 20 – 24 at the Accra International Conference Centre, under
the theme: “Redefining The Commercial Value Of Football In Africa” is my
company, RICS Consult’s way of facilitating this realization and
appreciation.
2.0 Football As A Tool For Poverty Alleviation
• Most of the stars were former street kids;
• Need to recognise that and engage these stars as role models to address
current spate of streetism;
• We need to sit up and look at the multiplier effect of the transfer fees and
other funds brought into this country through football, their impact on the
families of these footballers and the general economy to appreciate this.
.
3.0 Football For Youth Mobilisation.
• If you look at its attraction to the youth in terms of the fame and fortune,
then as a nation we should start using this platform or vehicle to mobilise
the youth for various campaigns like public education on health such as HIV –
AIDS, Teenage Pregnancy, STDS or even for the Greater Discipline In Our
National Life;
• NGOs such as PlaySoccer Ghana should be adopted by say the Ministry of
Education and Sports / National Sports Council and the Ghana Football
Association (GFA) for the objectives that they pursue and promote.
4.0 Management Of The Game.
• A lot has been said about the management of the game in this country;
• For some, government participation to the extent of nominating two, for one
to be elected the Chairman of the FA was the bane of the problems bedeviling
Ghana Football so a general call for the changes in the statutes;
• But management for me is more than that call because sincerely the problems
are still with us, except clothed differently;
• It will important to look at the new structure and see how we can fine tune
these properly because why would one replace the old management committee
with a emergency committee for mere window dressing.
5.0 Strategic Planning
• We have always known that every two years, we will be participating in the
Cup of African Nations (CAN) and every four years, the FIFA World Cup and yet
each time we commit the same mistakes of waiting till the last few months to
pretend to be doing something;
• Trying not to sound like an old record or one of the numerous socio –
political commentators on radio, I am inclined to be saying that this is an
age – old problem with the country;
• Nobody can tell you how much we will need to run a World Cup campaign from
qualification to participation, when you know that when you qualify you will
earn in excess of USD$8 million? Can’t we then take it to be a business
proposition as we will all do at our various workplaces and treat it purely
as a business enterprise and all?
6.0 Grassroots Development.
• We seem to be gradually losing focus as a nation, why?
• Because, when we need the rest of the country then we go to them and after we
want to pretend and believe Ghana is Accra. Otherwise, why would anyone call
a premier league with over 70% of the clubs being Accra – based: A National
League?
• We were strongest as a football nation when our talents were broad - based to
reflect the diversity of our people;
• There is STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY and I will look at the Brazilian example, when
various studies looked at the physiology of Ghanaians as a basis to build our
game.
7.0 Football Academies
• The new growing business is Football Academies;
• What we need to do is to regulate this for the national development of the
growth of the game;
• We should deem it possible to invite international football icons to visit
the country and engage our youth through these academies for the development
of talents and skills just like in the past with visits of Pele and Santos
and Sir Stanley Matthews;
8.0 Legal Framework
• It is important to appreciate that no good thing can operate in a vacuum;
• The current law regulating the organisation, promotion, development and
control is the SMCD 54 passed in 1978 and yet close to 30 years, are we
saying it is not obsolete, needing various amendments or better still a whole
replacement?
9.0 Use of the Euphoria of the World Cup Qualification.
• When Ghana qualified for the World Cup Germany 2006, there were too many
things we could have done in leveraging the benefits of this across our
national psyche, national spirit, patriotism and all;
• My problem is how we allowed this to virtually come to a standstill by the
events of Egypt 2006 Cup of African Nations.
10.0 Football And Domestic Tourism.
• Sports Tourism is the new tourism development worldwide and that is why
nations and cities go out of their way to bid for and win the rights to host
and organise various international football events;
• So the hosting of CAN 2008 Ghana Tournament should be in the right direction;
• What I am concerned about is the role of football in promoting domestic
tourism.
11.0 Coaching.
• The coaches I came to find thirty years ago are still about the same with no
conscious efforts to grow such an integral part of the development of the
game.
12.0 Spectators.
• Over the last thirty years spectatoring has dwindled drastically;
• Except for Kotoko F/C, which is able to attract over 30,000 to their league
matches, a lot of the clubs play to empty stadia;
• Isn’t it about time some SWOT analysis is commissioned to help in addressing
this?
13.0 Marketing.
• Merchandising is the new way of growing the incomes and yet we are not making
that conscious effort to establish this in the country.
14.0 Refereeing.
• Spate of bribery allegations killing the game, need to address the issue if
we want to grow the industry as current state erodes confidence, example is
the collapse of Ghana Football Pools Authority for how can you bet for the
scores to be pre-determined by bribery?
15.0 Stadia Management.
• The new thinking is to privatise the management of new stadia to be
constructed and renovated for CAN 2008 Ghana Tournament so as to be able to
pay back amount of money invested.
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