Only certified football coaches to practise in Ghana from next year

Ho, April 30, GNA - Only certified football coaches would be allowed to practise in Ghana from January next year (2011). Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, President of Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced this during an interaction with football club owners, managers and coaches in Ho on Thursday.

He said the GFA was therefore conducting training courses for football coaches in the country towards their certification. Mr Nyantakyi therefore urged all coaches to take advantage of the initiative to improve upon their skills and performance. He said the idea of the training courses has become necessary because, "the theory of coaching is as important as the practical," and that coaches cannot be professional until they were properly trained. Mr Nyantakyi observed that there were currently many untrained football coaches in the country who were using their 'common sense' rather than knowledge of the rules on their job and hoped the initiative would help to improve the game in the country.

He said the GFA has made huge investments towards improving the game and called for the collaboration of all stakeholders. Mr Nyantakyi said the Association has so far spent about 98,000 Ghana cedis on Women's League last year to develop the game and was also adopting measures towards supporting juvenile football.

"We want to give some more attention to juvenile football. We are expecting some 3,000 footballs for distribution to juvenile clubs across the country and hope to organize a national juvenile championship by the last quarter of 2010."

During an open forum, concerns were raised about the professionalism of referees and their payment in the lower divisions.