Acheampong: We’ll build on FA’s achievements

A member of the Executive Committee (ExCo) of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Frederick Acheampong, has promised to continue to avail of his expertise to ensure the growth of football in the country.

Speaking to the Graphic Sports last Friday after his re-election in Tamale to serve another four-year term on the FA’s decision-making body, Mr Acheampong said his focus would be to work to ensure the realisation of the vision of GFA president, Kurt Simeon-Okraku.

He admitted that even though they worked so hard to achieve a lot in their first term, much more needed to be done stating that a solid foundation had been laid in the first term.

“If you analyse the past four years, I think that relatively, we have achieved a lot but there are a lot of areas that also need improvement. Like improving the performance of the national team in international competitions, infrastructure is also a priority because we laid the foundation in our first term,” he said.

Mr Acheampong mentioned domestic league competition and juvenile football, as well as refereeing, as areas that they would pay more attention to. He mentioned also the FA's 'Catch Them Young' refereeing programme, which he acknowledged to have received international recognition, as some football associations have approached the Ghana FA to learn the innovative programme to introduce youngsters to officiating in matches at an early stage.

Another area of priority for the FA was that of women’s football. He said it was the administration's intention to build on the achievements of the women’s game, as well as the establishment of satellite offices across the country.

On support for the betPawa Premier League, the ExCo member said attempts were being made to turn it into an autonomous league next season, but until that was achieved, the FA would continue to push for more support financially for the league to make it more attractive and rewarding.

“With the Premier League clubs, the implementation of the semi-autonomous league is still in the pipeline but as long as it continues to be a product of the FA, we’ll strive to promote it and also push for resources. Without resources, it’s very difficult to run a football club because around the world, all the top football clubs have the required resources and infrastructure," he stated.

Mr Acheampong ran for election on the ticket of Dreams FC, as one of five Premier League representatives on the ExCo. He expressed appreciation to the board of Dreams FC for giving him the opportunity to represent them, as well as all the electorate who believed in his competence and voted for him.