Quality pitches-one of the solutions to football-Turf expect

Accra, July 12, GNA - Mr. Frank Boahene, Head of Corporate Grounds of Fulham Football Club in England, has said that one of the solutions to Ghana's downward trend in football is the provision of quality football pitches suitable for professional football.

"Apart from the players, the pitch is very important and in order to achieve high maximum results at high level football, there is the need for provision of quality pitches," Mr. Boahene said.

Mr. Boahene who holds certificate in Sports Turf Management was speaking at press conference on Friday was speaking on turf management in football administration. He said bad pitches lead to various degrees of injuries such as knee, thigh and ankle which affects the performance of players.

According to Mr. Boahene the nation abounds in many talents but due to the unavailability of quality pitches their performances always fall below expectation.

He said the major cause of bad pitches in the country is their abuse, adding that the two national pitches are always over used as more than 100 games are played on them over a short period of time.

The pitch expect said this could be solved by building pitches in other parts of the country for other purposes to ease the pressure on the Accra and Kumasi Stadia.

Mr. Boahene expressed the need for the training of grounds men to manage pitches in the country as well as the use of quality tools for their maintenance.

He was of the view that the nation abounds in enormous talents who are capable of performing at any level if good pitches are provided for football.

On the way forward, Mr. Boahene said it is high time football is run on a professional basis and clubs are encouraged to acquire good pitches for themselves to ease pressure on national pitches to enhance moving football development abreast with advanced countries in Europe