Time constraints occasioned by a protracted legal battle has compacted the 2003 soccer season into a seven-month programme.

That arrangement, as agreed upon by the major players, includes the league, the FA Cup, activities of the national teams particularly the Black Stars, the continental clubs competitions, and possible outstanding games that will arise due to various reasons. The 2003 Premier League is set to start on Sunday 11 May.

A programme drawn to that effect is expected to end before 30 November, the deadline for submission candidates for the three CAF-organised club competitions.

And that will mark the end of weeks and months of uncertainty that has hanged over the start of the programme since the GFA got entangled in a court case with Tudu Mighty Jets last year.

At a consultative meeting held last Wednesday, the management board of the GFA, the Professional League Board (PLB), and the Premier League Clubs Association (GHALCA), and the Premier League clubs agreed that the two-round league be contracted to enable them meet the date for the submission of representatives to the continental competitions.

That programme, if it runs as scheduled, will travel between 11 May and Sunday 26 November by which date the curtain will be lowered on both the league season and the FA Cup. That in effect compacts the programme into weekend and midweek matches over intermittent intervals over the period.

Yet, in between that period, the clubs will vie for honours in the FA Cup competition, which has been arranged to run concurrently with the league at a stage in the competition.

According to the programme, the Divisions One and Two clubs will start the FA Cup competition on 20 July at the 1/32 stage and will be joined by the Premier clubs at the 1/16 stage on 29 October with the final scheduled for Wednesday 26 November. Between July and August, the league will run on weekends and midweek continuously.

According to Sylvester Mensah, Chairman of the PLB, the meeting was necessitated by the need for consensus among all the major players in the Premier League in order to have a smooth running programme. He said in view of the delayed start of the year’s programme, there is the need to reach that agreement with all stakeholders to forestall the possibility of anyone throwing the programme overboard.

Mensah said with the decision so reached at the meeting, any club that acts contrary falls foul with the law and would be dealt with accordingly. For example, he said, clubs travelling out on international assignments are expected back within a time frame to enable the programme to run as scheduled.