Sports News of 2026-09-09
‘The games are played before they are played’ – Mahama raises red flag over GPL refereeing
President John Dramani Mahama has criticised refereeing standards in the Ghana Premier League, claiming poor officiating and perceptions of predetermined results are contributing to the decline of the domestic game.
Speaking during a courtesy meeting with representatives of Medeama Sporting Club, Nations FC and Ampem Darkoa at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Mahama said refereeing was one of the major issues “destroying” Ghanaian football.
“Unfortunately, refereeing is one of the things that is destroying our soccer. The matches are played before they are played,” he said.
Mahama alleged that financial arrangements were sometimes made around matches before they were even contested, creating the perception that results had already been determined.
“For every match there is a way and means budget. It makes the league not competitive because the match has been played already, somebody has won, so what’s the need to go to play the match anyway?” he added.
The President believes the Ghana Football Association and the Ghana Referees Association must work together to restore confidence in officiating and make the league more competitive.
“So, both the Ghana Referees Association and the FA should look to see how we can improve refereeing,” Mahama said.
He further linked concerns over officiating to declining attendances at Ghana Premier League matches, saying some supporters have stopped going to stadiums because they believe certain results are decided before kick-off.
“A lot of spectators have stopped going to watch matches because they believe a lot of the games are preset even before they go to play the match,” he said.
Mahama stressed that improving refereeing was necessary to restore competitiveness and spectator confidence in the domestic league.
FKA/AM
