GFA Debate: 5 ways Kurt Okraku’s pragmatic solutions stood tall

Leading presidential aspirant Kurt E S Okraku showed style and class with practical steps to change the face of Ghana football with a stellar performance on Monday night as we witnessed the first ever Ghana Football Association Presidential Debate ahead of its elective congress on Friday October 25, 2019.

Five of the six aspiring candidates made themselves available for an academic exercise of contest of ideas which spanned over 4 hours at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra.

The debate which allowed 3 minutes for each candidate to deliver a solution to a football issue was moderated by 3 different personalities with the scope ranging from women’s football, marketing, revenue generation, Colts football, government funding, corruption and refereeing.

The Game Changer as he is tagged was the first to roll but only suffered technical minus in his introductory remarks as he went beyond the allowed 3 minutes.

Beyond this, the candidate who is known to have chalked achievements with the revival of the MTN FA CUP and a resolute Dreams FC brand stood tall among his peers with pragmatic solutions rather than the usual theoretical flamboyance and “text-book” scripts that others seems to have enjoyed on the night.

Below are 5 key moments his answers proved his understanding of the game can never be doubted as he provided realistic and achievable solutions to football problems.

1. HOOLIGANISM AND FAN SECURITY:

“Sports and Football Policing is distinct from normal policing and my era would lead a proposal to the Ghana Police Service to create a special Sports Policing Unit in a bid to curve hooliganism in our football.

2. REVIVING COLTS / JUVENILE FOOTBALL.

The goal is to set up Game Centres that will bring together the clubs at specific zones. The Game Centres would have upgrades pitches, footballs, the basics that will aid the players and this will attract the fans. Once fans gather the media would also be interested. More coverage means corporate world will also begin commerce and then the product called Colts football will gain value again. We must create products out of it & financing of the basics like boots, good pitches would be key.

3. PLAYER WELFARE AND HEALTH CONCERNS

A Medical Fund would be set up up to take care of serious injuries like ligament, bone injuries.

Also, 30 players of clubs from Premier, DOL and Women’s League would also be enrolled on NHIS for easy and accessible healthcare.

This eases the burden on clubs and ensures that a certain level of guarantee is provided for the career of our players. Beyond this a percentage from the World Cup Benefit Fund would go to the PFAG in making them more effective to tackle issues with player welfare.

4. BAN LIVE EUROPEAN GAMES ON TV TO BOOST PATRONAGE OF LOCAL LEAGUE? NO!

I do not believe in this approach. I believe in developing our products and making our products more interesting. I believe in enhancing the capacity of staff across board. I believe in being more creative and getting unique solutions to our current situation.

I believe that the football economy can be stronger to make the game more attractive and with the aid of proper scheduling, we can rise beyond this. We must also set up a SCHEDULING DEPARTMENT to effective this change.

5. PREMATURE PLAYER EXODUS.

First for is for us to admit that player trading is one of the biggest revenue streams for clubs. Secondly, we must improve the basics here and ultimately the product offering would improve. When there are good pitches, footballs, bibs, automatically playing gets better, better value for the league means better value for players then they ll stay more because there is traction and exports would even gain more value because the key products have been groomed over time and become more quality.