Chairman of the Shama District Football Association, George Kuntu Blankson, has implored the Ghana Football Association to award clubs that emerge winners of each of the three zones of the Division One League with a trophy, to climax their promotion to the top flight football.
The second tie of Ghana football pyramid is divided into three zones; Zone, Zone two and Zone three. Each zone comprise of sixteen (16) clubs, playing a total of 30 matches per league season. At the end of the season, the club that wins the zone by way of amassing the highest number of points after the 30 league matches gains promotion to the Ghana Premier League, the elite division of the domestic league.
At the end of the Division One League season, the three clubs that emerge winners of their respective zones are promoted to the elite division, but with no medal or trophy to show for their hard work. Elsewhere in English, winners of the EFL Championship are awarded with a trophy for winning the league to gain promotion to the elite division, but the story is of the contrary in Ghana.
In an interaction with West Gold Radio, Chairman of the Shama District FA, who doubles as the President of Division two club Unicorn FC, George Kuntu Blankson, has appealed to the GFA through the president of the FA, Kurt Okraku to initiate the practice of awarding the Division One League clubs with a trophy when they win their zonal leagues to gain promotion to the premier league.
“For the Zone One, Zone two, Zone three, those who emerge first of each zone are those that are promoted to the Premier division. So I will appeal to the Ghana Football Association, in case it has eluded the Game Changer (referring to the FA Boss), I appeal to him that each team that will emerge winner of their zone going into the premier division should at least be given a trophy”, Kuntu told West Gold Radio. “Assuming Skyy FC or [Sekondi] Hasaacas or Proud [United] finishing as first in zone two then they are awarded a trophy with something little, same as zone one and zone three”, he appealed.
Touching on the importance of awarding a trophy to the division zonal winners, Kuntu Blankson explained that it will enhance the competitiveness of the league and more importantly, serve as a legacy or a prize for the clubs and the players to serve as something to remember, an attestation that they were winners of their zone which will be part of their achievements in the game. He proposed that the GFA initiates this practice starting with the 2020/2021 league season.
“Why is it that a club plays in zone one, becomes first in zone, zone two or zone three and qualify to the premier division and still has nothing to show for it? I suggest to the Ghana Football Association and the Executive Council to present a trophy to each club that gains promotion to testify that this team has qualified to premier division. So I plead with Game Changer and his Executive Council that, in case it has not come into their mind, they should think about it so that starting from the 2020/2021 season which is about to start, every team that will qualify from their zone to the premier division should be awarded a trophy”, he suggested.
“Assuming Skyy FC wins the zone two league, there is nothing to show but there should at least be a trophy to show, something they can use to testify that they won the zone to qualify the premier division”, he conclusively stated.
