GPL Cancellation: The biggest winners & losers

The cancelation of the Ghana Premier League follows through a worrying trend that has defined the competition for some years now. Legal tussles, corruption expose, and now the coronavirus have played their part in the abrupt cancelation of the campaigns.

The current season was looking promising. Records lay in wait to be smashed, the fans had picked up their hobbies of watching football again, while the organizers enjoyed very good publicity for bringing back the love. And so for them and the many others who stood to benefit from a finished season, the news of cancelation news will be a bitter pill to swallow. But some will take the news with grace.

Here are my biggest winners and losers following the cancelation of the 2019/2020 season:

Medeama S.C. (Losers)

High-flying, decent goal record and a very good point tally of 27 that was only second to Aduana Stars after 15 games told a story of a side that was prepared to break boundaries and win a top-flight trophy for only the second time in its history. The battle lines were drawn and we were in for a very good title race. The hopes of Medeama winning a second title was another 15 games away but within touching distance. Now they will need to press the reset button and hope the red-hot form they were on continues when the season restarts.

GFA (Losers)

Words cannot begin to describe the losses the GFA will record after the announcement that its flagship competition will not proceed as planned amid the coronavirus pandemic. The virus after arriving on our shores prompted a lockdown that inescapably reduced physical activities in every sector including football. However, some things are returning to normal, but not football. Now the GFA, as per their official will lose about $2.2 million while a famous campaign “Bring Back The Love” has now been lost to the wind. Returning Ghana football to its previously high glorious days seems a harder task than anticipated.

Fans (Losers)

Long has the GPL been crying out for the kind of fan attendance we witnessed in the just-ended season. Stadiums were hardly filled, but the feeling was an assuring one. The lovers of the beautiful were hoping to celebrate a title victory once again. Been a while they saw a champion. Since, 2017 when Aduana Stars won the league title, there has been no winner of the championship and now these supporters will have to wait until further notice to know when the new season starts and if it indeed finishes this time around.

Karela United (Winners)

When news broke that the league has been canceled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, one can imagine nose-masked muffled screams for joy in the camp of Karela United. Karela was high flying in the previous tournament, the Normalization Committee Special Competition, finishing third, and raising eyebrows in the process. Their ambitious run to the podium has not been seen in the 2019/20 season. Instead, they languished at the bottom of the table with only 11 points after 15 games, averaging 1.3 points per game. They will welcome this cancelation, regroup and press the reset button for the next season.

Asante Kotoko and Ashanti Gold (Winners)

There’s something sweet about receiving the odd gift without having to work for it. After the announcement that the league has been called off to prevent any unnecessary spread of the coronavirus, it was announced that Kotoko and Ashanti Gold would represent Ghana in the CAF Champions League and the Confederations Cup, should they accept it. There’s not been any official word from their quarters just yet about whether they accept this decision, but the feeling will be one of ecstasy. After all, that’s one of the objectives they handed their coaches at the start of the season in December last year. They’d jump for this giveaway.