Members of Parliament are rallying support to get world-class Astro Turf park in every constituency to promote the quality of football being played at district level up to the national level.
Making a statement in Parliament on Wednesday, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, was confident such projects would enhance the discovery of football talents in Ghana.
He recalled the unfavourable conditions, in terms of infrastructure and government support, football talents like Abedi Pele, Michael Essien and Asamoah had to endure to become great players.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh, who is also the Member of Parliament of Nsawam Adoagyir, noted that the prevailing condition has negatively affected the game with many people losing hope in the country’s ability to bounce back producing more football icons and win laurels for Ghana.
The MP is therefore pushing for the fundamental issues to be tackled.
“Among those issues are the under-resourced local league; the lack of wider search for football talents; and a prominent issue of scarce football arenas, even though football is played in almost every corner of the country…It bores down to the availability of football parks or pitches that meet standards of safety and convenience.”
It is for the above reasons that Mr. Annoh-Dompreh and his colleagues are advising the country to go beyond having only regional sports facilities, and rather develop the sport at the districts level where colts football can be revived.
“Considering the advanced nature of the sport today in all its technicalities, it is unfitting for Ghanaians to continue to play on ‘sakora’ parks and expect world class talents which would sufficiently compensate inefficiencies in Ghana’s football performances.”
He brought to the fore the works of Ghanaian-owned company, Wembley Sports Construction, who earned the praise of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo for projects such as the Madina Zongo sport complex that the Black Stars are able to train on.
He said the company that is experienced in Astro Turf fields has started producing ‘granules’, a component that makes the pitches much safer to play on.
“Mr. Speaker Wembley Sports Complex is the first to receive FIFA’s certificate as having met the quality standards in West Africa and Ghana.
“If Ghana proceeds in this line and gets such artificial pitches in our districts and some selected schools, Wembley Sports Construction would not only be putting Ghana up as a well-represented nation in terms of sports infrastructure but will also be reviving the love for sports, not forgetting that talents will also be unearthed to positively impact the sport at the international stage.”
He was hopeful having such project will in the near future end the struggle of national teams like the Black Stars to exhibit their prowess in international tournaments.
“Since, there are so many undeveloped parks in the country, an agenda can be adopted for the central government to pursue ‘One Constituency, One Artificial Football Park’,” he prayed.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh also outlined some benefits of the artificial football parks:
- With the availability of these sports facilities, the frequent act of blocking roads during funerals will be curbed as the spaces can be rented out.
- It is also a common practice of institutions to organize health walks and related events and this will be aided with the availability of sporting grounds to also prevent people from using the roads at dawn in most cases, without reflectors.
- These parks help reduce social vices the youth are prone to when they have no place to engage in recreational activities.