GHPL match command center introduced

Developments at Ghana Premier League (GPL) venues are now monitored closely from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) secretariat using various technological means on match days, spokesman for the GFA, Ibrahim Sannie Daara and the Deputy General Secretary in-charge of International Relations, Alex Asante have disclosed.

Briefing journalists at their secretariat in Accra on Monday, Alex Asante, who coordinates activities at the match command center, explained that the monitoring forms part of innovative measures to ensure that, the right things are done at venues in the GFA’s bid to enhance the image of the GPL.

“With regards to the match command center, what we do is coordination. Before the match, we try to get in touch with the match coordinators at the various venues, the match officials – that’s the referee, and the match commissioner. We speak to them before the pre-match meetings to find out if all is well and all the arrangements, security and all that; soon after the match, we call to find out whether there were any issues that the FA should know” said Alex Asante.

He added that “During the game, we are closely in touch with our coordinators and the match commissioner to find out how the match is progressing. We have other means of monitoring; those that are on television, we do same. Then after the match, we speak to the referees, the match commissioners, to make sure that, with the assistance of the coordinator, the reports are communicated [on time]”.

Alex Asante further revealed that, on matchday two, the GFA received referees’ report within two hours after the game with the exception of the Berekum Chelsea-Dreams FC fixture at the Golden City Park, where due of an incident, the referee couldn’t immediately send his report until Monday morning.

“So at least with this arrangement, we are making sure that the referee will not send the report home for somebody to go and ask him to change a red or yellow card; it’s done the spot” he stated.

Journalists were shown television monitors and when asked specifically how the monitoring is done, Sannie Daara said: “There are software's that we use to watch the matches live. We don’t want people to watch the matches on the internet because we will be infringing on the rights of StarTimes but we use software's to be able to watch the matches.

“As you are aware, we’ve got cameramen who are at the venues. There are many ways we are monitoring the venues without any hindrance but we don’t want to put it on a public perform where everybody is able to watch. We will infringe on the rights of StarTimes. We have to protect them” said Sannie.

Watch video below