I’m ready for new football season – Elmina Sharks’ Benjamin Boateng

Elmina Sharks talisman Benjamin Boateng has indicated his readiness for the 2020/2021 league season following the clearance by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for football to return.

Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday lifted the ban on contact sports, paving way for the FA to organize their competitions.

October 30, 2020, has been earmarked as the date for the commencement of the new football season.

Some football administrators and medical experts have expressed reservations about the date, arguing that the players who have not played a game since mid-March will not be fit enough to start the season.

Dr Adam Baba, the head of the FA’s medical committee has said that the date is too soon for football to return.

He said the players will need at least four weeks of training to gain match fitness.

"It is impossible to start the league in October from my point of view. If the government said go ahead, you can start but we cannot start in October,” Baba told Kumasi FM.

”There’s no team that can tell you that it has started preparation. We need a minimum of four to six weeks for the clubs, they need to purchase new players and start pre-season training which cannot be done in three weeks. Practically, we give ourselves four to six weeks from the time we’ve been asked to start so the earliest we might start in November.”

In an interview with www.ghanaweb.com, Benjamin Boateng expressed excitement with the return of the game and praised the FA and government for the decision.

He added he has been actively training since the lockdown was lifted and is prepared for the new season.

‘I’m happy that football is back. We are all happy that finally, the game has returned. I want to say thank you to the authorities. As for me, I’m ready for the season. We can start on the 30th because I have been training. I can’t speak for others but I believe I’m fit for the rest of the season”.

Meanwhile, the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports on Tuesday has held a meeting with heads of federations of contact-sports disciplines to deliberate on how they can organize competitions.

GhanaWeb understands that it was decided that the other federations bar the GFA can hold training sessions but official competitions are on hold until further notice.