"Capital Bank Still Ghana League Sponsors"-Premier League Board Chairman

Premier League Board (PLB) chairman, Ashford Tettey-Oku, insists Capital Bank (formerly First Capital Plus Bank) remains title sponsors of the Premier League in spite of a unilateral suspension of the contract by the bank two months ago, casting doubts over whether the 2015/16 season will commence next month without sponsorship.

The PLB boss told the Graphic Sports yesterday that Capital Bank had a contractual agreement with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and as far as he was aware the FA had not given any indication that the contract had been abrogated.

Reacting to concerns by Premier League clubs about the uncertainty over the league sponsorship, Mr Tettey-Oku said much as he identified with their apprehension, there was no cause for alarm.

“The PLB understands the concerns of the clubs, but so far as we know, Capital Bank remains the sponsors and until the GFA gives us a contrary situation, we do not have contrary situation we do not have to be despondent,” he assured.

He admitted that playing this season’s league without the title sponsorship would not only affect the clubs financially but also the FA, which spends over GH¢2million to organise the league every season, aside of the sponsorship.

“Without the sponsorship, the FA will also have to find money to completely run the league, and aside other huge costs it takes care of, the situation would be a huge financial challenge for the FA and as such everyone is very much concerned and determined to ensure the contractual agreement is respected.”

He gave the assurance that with the Broadcast Sponsorship deal with SuperSport still running, the premiership clubs were set to benefit from the season’s package, with the PLB ready to get the league started on February 20.

“We are very ready to get the season started. All the knotty issues have been dealt with so far as organisation is concerned and we assure all of an exciting season,” Mr Tettey-Oku indicated.

At the end of last season, the bank officially informed the FA in a letter about its decision to suspend $2million-a-year, deal with the FA in order to undertake some internal restructuring. The sponsorship deal, which was in its second year, was to run for five years.

"Capital Bank Still Ghana League Sponsors"-Premier League Board Chairman

"PLB To Release Fixtures Soon"-Ashford Tettey-Oku

The chairman of the Premier League Board (PLB), Ashford Tettey-Oku, says they are awaiting the green light from the Executive Committee (ExCo) of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to officially release the fixtures for upcoming league for the 2015/16 season scheduled to commence on February 20.

The ExCo’s endorsement, according to Mr Tettey-Oku, was in compliance with Article 68 of the GFA statute, which requires the ExCo members to scrutinise the fixtures once generated before giving their endorsement for subsequent release.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic on Tuesday, the newly-appointed PLB boss said they had already generated the fixtures with their computer software but the PLB would ensure they were released as soon as the ExCo members were satisfied with them.

He said the Club Licensing Board was expected to commence inspection of the various venues for the 16 Premier League clubs and the 48 Division One League (DOL) clubs, but warned that they would not hesitate to apply the rules on clubs that fell short of the requirement.

“We will notify all clubs by Friday about the intended inspection which comes off on Monday and we expect that they would meet the basic requirements to avoid any sanctions,” he said

The club venues are expected to meet certain basic requirements such as the presence of inner perimeter, changing rooms, adequate washroom facilities, among other basic things needed to be present in a stadium.

"PLB To Release Fixtures Soon"-Ashford Tettey-Oku