Govt, GFA should ‘pay’ us to play in empty stadium - Dwarfs coach Ernest Thompson

Head Coach of Ghana Premier League side Ebusua Dwarfs, Ernest Thompson Quartey says local clubs should be ready to resume football by playing without fans, only with financial support from the government and the Ghana Football Association.

The Ghana Football leagues and competitions have been suspended since Mid-March due to the CoronaVirus pandemic.

With football leagues across the world resuming, pressure has been mounting on the Ghana FA to take such a decision for the benefit of the game.

Prominent among the many suggestions that accompany a call for a restart is playing behind closed doors.

There have been mixed reactions to this and the Dwarfs Coach Ernest Thompson believes the option is executable only if support is given clubs.

He disclosed in an interview with Y FM in Kumasi that clubs will be financially hit if made to play without fans because gate proceeds remain a major source of revenue for them.

“You know our clubs actually rely on gate proceeds. And should the league resume in an empty stadium, it is going to actually affect clubs,” Coach Ernest Thompson told Y FM.

“When it’s behind closed doors and there are no supporters coming in, there is no any other source of income for some of the teams.

“It is going to cause a lot of problems for most of the teams, Dwarfs not excluded, because you know we don’t have as many sponsors and support as other teams have and that is really going to be a problem.

“If you should ask me, the government or the Ghana Football Association should come in to support the teams financially.

“With that one, if we are asked to go and play, I think fine and with all the protocols and everything put in place to ensure the players, technical team and management do not contract the disease why not.

“We are ready to play anytime they ask us to, but we should be very careful with the decision,” he concluded.

The Ghana Football Association has set a deadline of June 30 to decide on the future of the 2019-20 Football season.

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