We’ll pay GFA soon – Glo assures

Globacom Mobile Ghana Limited says it has no reason to default in the payment of the remainder of its sponsorship package to the Ghana Football Association. Head of Marketing Communications, Glo Mobile Ghana, Mr. Dominic Icha, said this in an interview with TimeSports in Accra on Wednesday.

According to him, Glo had met its obligation in excess of $12million to the FA and wondered why people think “we wouldn’t honour the rest.”

“Indeed, we do not intend to owe the FA. We have had the reason to stagger our payment and it is not an abnormal situation in any line of business,” he emphasized.

Mr. Icha disclosed that Glo had activated its machinery to ensure all payments were executed soon, but fell short of placing a hand on a specific date.

Glo Mobile Ghana, a subsidiary of Globacom International, took over as the headline sponsor of the league in a five-year deal worth $15million in December 2008.

In the deal, Glo were expected to ‘fork out’ $3million to the 16 participating clubs per season until the end of the 2013/14 season.

At present, however, Glo owe the clubs a total of about $5.5million – inclusive of the just-ended season’s sponsorship amount.

Until recently, the 16 Premier League clubs had agreed with the FA to waive 10 per cent of the amount owed them after Glo made a promise of clearing up the ‘debt’ to the clubs by the end of May 2012.

Glo were expected to pay $2.3million after discount. The clubs have reportedly rejected a further five per cent discount request by Glo because the Executive Committee of the GFA have agreed on the arrangement without their consent.

The clubs are now said to be demanding a 100 per cent payment (approximately $2.5million) plus the total amount for the 2011/12 season.

In the last couple of weeks, Glo had come under a barrage of onslaughts by stakeholders of the league for the delay in the final payment of the sponsorship money.

“Let me reassure the FA and clubs that the remainder of the package will be honoured. How soon, I cannot put a finger on – but I know it wouldn’t take long,” Mr. Icha said.

He, however, expressed concern about the failure of some media institutions to give Glo the much-needed leverage with regard to the promotion of its brand as far as the premier league was concerned.

“We have had the cause to send a formal complaint to the FA about the need to ensure our rights are respected, but we have not seen any significant improvement,” Mr. Icha lamented.