GNPC’s $15millon Black Stars sponsorship did not benefit Ghana football – Saddick Adams

Saddick Adams, the head of sports for Angel Broadcasting Network has said that the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) was right to pull out of its sponsorship deal with the Black Stars.

The state-owned oil company truncated its five-year deal with the Black Stars in 2017 following pressure from leading NPP figures including the Majority Leader, Osei Kye-Mensah-Bonsu.

The deal was worth $15million with GNPC paying $3million to the team on yearly basis.

The GNPC, after terminating the deal have now committed to constructing artificial pitches across the length and breadth of the country.

Speaking on GhanaWeb’s Sports Check programme, Saddick Adams said that Ghana football as a whole did not benefit from the sponsorship.

He remarked that the investment in the senior national team did not trickle down to the other aspects of the country’s football.

He stated that the Majority Leader was right in his call for GNPC to end the deal.

“He (Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) had a very reasonable excuse for that comment in parliament because they invested in the Black Stars, not football. Can you tell me what was palpable in the change that money did to the Black Stars? It only destroyed the team. To me, they needed to have invested in football and he criticized them because there was no benefit coming from it.

“Imagine GNPC is investing $5m in football a year and the money is going to colts football, women football and organization of inter-schools, will any MP stand up in Parliament and say they should cancel that contract? he quizzed.

Obama alongside Jerome Otchere of Kotoko Express was discussing the manifesto promises of the NPP and NDC with GhanaWeb Sports editor Daniel Oduro.

The two respected journalists agreed that the manifestos were tailored to the needs of Ghana sports but were doubtful of the commitments of the two parties to deliver on their mandates.

Obama said, “Under both manifestos, you see very lofty promises by both parties and you also realize that they have very feasible policies which can sustain and improve the level of sports in the country that we’ve all cried out for such a long time”.

“What amazes me is that a lot of them are basic things which should have been done over the years to have given Ghana advantage in terms of sports. We’ve taken sports as a recreation and not something that can be a strategic business opportunity for the country so it puts me in doubt that these things could be achieved when the governments are power”.