Premier League starts on August 20

Accra, July 20, GNA -- Congress, the highest decision making body of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) at its Ordinary Congress that precedes every soccer season on Thursday settled on Sunday, August 20, as the commencement for the 2006/7 Premiership.

The season crafted to synchronize with the European calendar is to end by April next year.

Congress also endorsed the Professional League Board's (PLB) proposal to allow the first four clubs on the league table by November 30, to represent Ghana in the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Inter Clubs Championships for the 2007 competition.

The decision is to ensure that Ghana meets CAF's November 30 deadline for the submission of representatives for the Champions League and Confederations Cup competitions.

The 3.5 billion One Touch sponsored Premier League would for the first time see a mandatory registration of colours by all the 16 Premiership clubs before its commencement next month. It was decided that each club registers three sets of jerseys, one each for home and away games and the last one as a stand-bye in case of clash of jerseys.

In this regards, clubs that flout the rules risks sanctions that include point deductions and fines. The PLB had taken an entrenched position on the issue of colours, riding high on the infamous hue saga that engulfed Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko's League game last year. The season would see referees being kitted by One Touch, sponsors of the League.

The cellular giants have pumped 500 million cedis as sponsorship for the referees.

For the first time in the history of the competition, media practitioners would be compelled to negotiate the right to broadcast the league with One Touch as the telecommunication tycoons are said to have offered the GFA 700 million cedis for media rights.