Too many 'amateur footballers' in Ghana Premier League - Ex-Hearts skipper

Hearts of Oak legend, Yaw Amankwah Mireku says the standard of the Ghana Premier League (GPL) has fallen because of the influx of amateur players in the league.

The GPL legend shared his experience on Ghana’s number one Sports Station Happy FM, on why the standard of the league has dropped juxtaposing it to his playing days.

Amankwah Mireku stated, the inability of Ghanaian clubs to afford good salaries and wages for players has affected the standard in the league as player exodus continues to rise up.

He explained that Ghanaian teams are unable to keep top-notch players in their teams when they burst out on to the scene.
These players quickly move out to search for greener pastures in Europe thus affecting the standard of the league as only amateur players get to stay and play for these clubs.

“The motivation is too low for the players and that is also affecting the performance of players in the Ghana Premier League. If teams are able to pay a minimum of Ghc 1000 then players will stay. Right now there are too many amateur players in the league because of that. Most of them after a good season move out to play abroad because they want to make money and take care of their families”, he told Happy FM.

“For instance, lets take Victorien Adebayor of Inter Allies as a case study, his standard is higher than that of our players so we could tell the difference. His technique and style of play is higher than most of our players in the league and we have to blame ourselves”, he compared the quality of some few players in the league.

The 40-year-old guided Hearts Oak to win a lot of trophies between 1997-2007 in the domestic scene.