PLB and Clubs settle impasse over special levy

Accra June 16, GNA - The Professional League Board (PLB) and the Premier League Clubs on Monday met and resolved the recent impasse over the imposition of a special levy by the Board to generate funds for the running of the game.

The PLB in collaboration with Coca-Cola recently introduced a fund raising scheme where 5,000 cedis was added to the gate fees of all matches of the Premiership. The idea was to raise extra money that would be put into a fund that would be used to assist Clubs that would be participating in CAF organised competitions.

A statement signed by Mr Kwaku Ampem-Darko, Secretary to the PLB copied to the GNA Sports said the matter was resolved after a consultative meeting between the PLB and 13 out of the 16 Premier League Clubs at the secretariat of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA). The scheme would ensure that supporters who buy tickets are also entitled to a bottle of Coca-Cola.

However, unfortunately the scheme hit a snag when Kumasi Asante Kotoko recently refused to allow officials of Coca-Cola into the Kumasi Sports Stadium to sell their products, hence the meeting to streamline such outstanding issues.

The statement said that at the meeting, Hearts of Oak tabled a new directive that was supported by Kotoko indicating that the home teams should be entitled to 60 percent of the funds generated with the remaining 40 per cent to be paid into the special fund to be managed by the PLB. It said there was an overwhelming support for the new amendment, which was led by the two football giants as they drummed home the fact that the fund managers should take cognisance of the direct benefit to be derived from the fund.

The statement said whilst the clubs congratulated the PLB for coming out with this laudable idea, they also tasked the PLB to effectively manage the proceeds that would be accrued from the fund. It said during the meeting, it was revealed that the scheme had exposed ticket racketeering rings in some of the football centres where unapproved tickets are sold to unsuspecting fans and are caught when they present the tickets for their bottle of the Coca-Cola. The statement said Mr Abra-Appiah, Chairman of the PLB who presided at the meeting pledge to educate supporters to cooperate with the operators of the scheme since it was meant among other things to alleviate some of the perennial financial problems that the Clubs go through.