GPL not dead, social media proves it - Kwesi Nyantakyi

President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, says the Ghana Premier League still has a lot of following despite contrary claims.

The 2018 season started off at the weekend after some legal challenges and Kwesi Nyantakyi believes the league’s popularity was on display by virtue of the conversations on social media.

Citi Sports’ checks of the leading Twitter trends from the weekend in Ghana showed that the hashtag ghplwk1, which was in relation to the opening round of the Ghana Premier League, was in top place.

The GFA boss went one step further to base his claims on the influx of more private owners into the local game. He said their involvement was ample proof of the league’s quality.

“The social media trends all had the Ghana Premier League in top place over the weekend and it demonstrated the level of interest among Ghanaians.

This is contrary to opinions that the league is dead, it is in coma and all kinds of negative comments,” he said in a media interaction at the GFA headquarters on Monday.

He went on: “If the league is dead, why Dr. Ndoum invest to upgrade in facilities in Elmina and why will Dr. Issahaku invest in a Division One team (Tamale City FC)?

The start of the league was good and the attendance in Tema (at the Inter Allies vs Bechem United match) was impressive. The fans were starved of the league by the court cases.”

Nyantakyi went on to explain that the late start of the league would push the FA to play matches during weekdays to make up for the time lost due to the court cases with Great Olympics.

He added that the FA may have to discuss the possibility of getting a special arrangement from FIFA that would allow the league to run during the World Cup.

FIFA has indicated that all leagues around the world would have to end by May to make way for preparations for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.