Government must take care of the cost of testing players for coronavirus – Takyi Arhin

Outspoken football administrator, Takyi Arhin has maintained that the government needs to cover the cost of testing Ghanaian players for the Coronavirus (Covid-19) disease should the need arises for the players to be tested.

The 2019/2020 football season has been halted for the last 3 months as part of measures put in place by the government to curb the spread of the deadly disease which has affected all aspects of life globally.

However, many have called for the cancellation of the league due to the fact that clubs cannot pay for the cost of testing players for the virus should the Ghana FA decide the league should continue.

But Takyi Arhin in a short write up has insisted the government should be the one to take the cost of the testing and not the clubs.

“Why should clubs pay for testing. I don’t get it.

“The burgers that were brought from abroad and given free accommodations and free meals, did they pay for their testing?

“Ghanaians that are tested so far, who pays for their testing? Why do we always cheapen ourselves like that? In terms of employment to the economy, football alone employs more than 4000 people,” he wrote.

“We pay taxes to clear our goods from the ports. We pay social security for our employees. We pay for VAT on matches played.

“Players that we transfer outside are helping the economy. We feed the various national teams with our players without taking anything from the government,” he argued.

Takyi Arhin ended by calling for financial support from the government to allow clubs to continue the league season behind closed doors.

“So the government should support us financially to play the matches behind closed doors else the players would become rusty.

“We need to convince the government with these factors stated above rather than thinking of payment to the testing of our players and the other stakeholders,” he added.