Referees threaten boycott of Premier League

The Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) said it would boycott all subsequent Premier League matches if the Ghana Football Association (GFA) fail to pay monies owe to them.

RAG prior to the commencement of the league gave the Professional League Board (PLB) a 14-day ultimatum to collaborate with the GFA to make part payment else it would resort to a boycott action. However that threat never materialised. A source close to RAG told the GNA Sports in Accra that the money which runs into millions of cedis is made up of officiating fees from last season's first division middle league and the Premier league.

The GFA has been hit by financial difficulties in recent times following the withdrawal of sponsorship of the Premier League by the Ghana Breweries Limited. The company said it could not continue with 800 million cedis renewable contract due to dwindling profit margins. The GFA has not been able to secure any sponsorship package for the league but said many companies have shown interest.

The source told the GNA that RAG couldn't continue pre-financing officiating fees if nothing "positive" is heard from either the GFA or the PLB. He said the two bodies have been shifting responsibility as to who is to pay the money and added that the boycott is a sure way of ending feud.