Improved wages can cure player migration — Malik

Ex-Black Stars player Malik Jabir has attributed the recent mass exodus of Ghanaian players to the meagre salaries they receive and charged club owners to improve the salaries of players. 

However, he notedimprovement in wages and general working conditions of the players would reduce the migration of players to foreign leagues and help in improve the league.

He said if they would be able to stem the incessant player movement that has hit the country, then the current situation where players received as little as GH¢100 and GH¢120 as salaries must be reviewed.
Coach Jabir expressed these concerns during an interview with the Graphic Sports via telephone from his base in Burkina Faso, where he is currently the technical director of Burkinabe Faso side, Asfa Yenenga.

He added that the financial handicap confronting players placed a lot of them in harsh economic difficulties which compelled them to move to neighbouring countries where the salaries were more enticing.

“Young Ghanaian players are leaving because they cannot use the salaries they are paid to feed themselves or to even support other family members, and I think it is time clubs make the effort to scale up the welfare of these players,”he said.

Coach Jabir further called on clubs in Ghana to make the effort to acquire their own playing grounds or improve their existing facilities for the good and development of the game.

Touching on the performance and quality of players in the Ghana Premier League, Coach Jabir stated that many of the players were not up to the task because they indulged so much in immoral vices.

“These days some players stay up in the night chatting on their phones for long hours and deny themselves enough sleep and this is not good,” said the Ghanaian legend, who advised players against lifestyles such as frequenting night clubs, drinking and smoking to leave football since they work against their progress.

Coach Jabir further debunked the notion that players could have sex and play effectively at the same time, saying sex is more absolving than every exercise and that players who engaged in sex needed at least 48 hours rest before training”.

That, he explained, was because having sex was similar to climbing a staircase or riding a bicycle, acts which drained a lot of energy from the body.

The veteran player and experienced coach added that “quality players are serious with their regular training sessions, listen to their coaches, think about what the coaches tell and teach them and eat well”.