Coronavirus: All clear for GFA facility to be used as isolation centre

Ghana’s football development hub, the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence is set to become a COVID-19 isolation and treatment facility after the Ghana Football Association handed it over to the government.

As the nation strives to win the fight against the virus, the GFA has made available the 250-bed facility for the government to use as an isolation centre.

A mooted idea to use it for the said purpose was initially rejected by the youth of Prampram but the President of the FA has disclosed that understanding has prevailed.

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Kurt Okraku said he was happy that the nation’s number one sport was playing a part in the fight against the pandemic.

“Following the passionate appeal by the President of the land H.E Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo Addo, asking all Ghanaians to join the fight against our biggest ‘enemy’, the Ghana Football Association, led by the Executive Council thought that, regardless of the fact that, we have been going through our own ‘COVID-18’ in the period leading to Normalization and beyond, we will not sit down aloof for which reason we decided that we have a special facility in Prampram that can house up to 250 people.

“It is strategically placed [so] we decided to offer this facility to the use of government as one of the isolation centres to treat our people, our colleagues, our brothers and sisters who live at Prampram and its environs.

“Following that singular decision, we decided together with the support of the Ministry of Health and government officials to engage the chief, the elders and the Youth of Prampram and its environs.

“In the last few days, we have gone through that process successfully and we can confidently say that the facility is ready to be used by the government free of charge to ensure that our brothers and sisters are well taken of.

“Together we will win this battle and together we will bring our football back,” GFA President Okraku stated at the Ministry of Information’s media briefing on Thursday, April 16.

Meanwhile, the FA is also confident of securing funds from the government to alleviate the impact of the virus on football clubs.

The FA’s spokesperson said that preliminary discussions with the government suggest that it could get a share of the stimulus package for businesses. “There will be continuous dialogue then we will be making special proposals. This entails putting figures on paper and those are the figures that will be considered. At the right time these figures will be made available,” Henry Asante Twum told Citi Sports in an interview.