Polo: GPL could be one of the best

A Former Black Stars and Hearts of Oak legend, Mohammed Ahmed Polo, has described the first round of the 2020/21 Ghana Premier League (GPL) as one of the best in recent times.

“If the league continues to be keenly-contested, devoid of any manipulation by club administrators and match officials in the second round, it will go down in history as one of the best organised leagues in recent times.” Polo, a former coach of city rivals, Great Olympics and Hearts of Oak, told Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview.

He attributed the success of the first round of the GPL to improved officiating and the FA’s desire to ensure that fair play prevailed at all league centres.

When stretched to predict the winner of this season’s league, he said it would be too premature to do so since the second round just began.

“Players are now evenly distributed among the participating clubs and considering the quality being exhibited, it is difficult to predict the winner of the current league.

“So far, the points separating the teams at the top are quite close, so the team that will be consistent in winning both home and away matches will be the eventual winner of the league,” he explained.

“The competitive nature of the league has made it so interesting and attractive such that, for the first time, foreign players from far and wide are willing to display their football potentials in Ghana.”

He, however, noted that his former club, Great Olympics, had indeed proved to be the ’Wonder Club’ by performing creditably so far. He, therefore, urged them to be focused in the second round in order to remain competitive.

Polo, who was a member of Hearts’ fearsome five, which included Mama Acquah, Anas Seidu, Peter Lamptey and Robert Hammond during the 1970s, particularly mentioned Richmond Lamptey of Inter Allies, Diawisie Taylor of Karela United, Kotoko’s Razak Abalora and Kwame Opoku,  and Gladson Awako of Olympics as being outstanding so far.

“Many of the players have been very impressive, but those I mentioned are in a class of their own. It is my hope that they would continue to ignite the league with their splendid performances in the second round to sustain the interest in the league.”

Predicting what the future held for Ghana football, Polo, aka ‘Dribbling Magician’, said good officiating was gradually helping to grow Ghana football, hence if it continued that way, the GPL could be one of the best on the continent.

“It is also important to put players on a  good salary to motivate foreign and local players to transform Ghana football into a world class one,” he advised.
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