Player exodus is good for Ghana league- Okraku

The former Hearts of Oak director says the phenomenon certainly has its own share of positives

Kurt Okraku, vice chairman of Ghana FA Cup Committee and executive chairman of newly-promoted Ghana Premier League side Dreams FC, has backed the mass exodus of players from the topflight to foreign leagues.

The local league has been impoverished due to the continuous departure of performing players in search of greener pastures, according to experts.

This has also led to low attendance at stadiums following the poor quality of football displayed to the sport lovers, the experts argue.

However, the renowned football administrator, widely regarded as the man behind the transfer of Ghana left-back Baba Rahman to Chelsea, says the sale of players is almost a necessity.

“I still stand by the sale of players to foreign clubs,” Okraku told local newspaper Graphic Sports.

“We all have to be real in our sport. In football, the biggest source of revenue is not sponsorship. It’s from player trading.

“When a player is sold to the international market, clubs in all tiers of our game have the chance to earn from it.

“So, if indeed player trading is our biggest earner, why must we stop? It does not make sense to me.”

Okraku also revealed why Baba joined lowly rated German side Greuther Furth in 2012 from Dreams FC, despite a host of high profile European clubs ready to pay more for the left-back.

“At that time, we had a lot of stellar clubs looking for his services, but we had to make a choice for the club which would offer him the best opportunity for career development.”

The local league has in recent times seen its best talents move to lowly football destinations such as Libya, DR Congo, Kazakhstan, India, Ethiopia, Kuwait, among others.