Astute football scout and a management member of Accra Hearts of Oak, Esme Mends has said, the competitiveness of the 2020/21 Ghana Premier League (GPL) season as well as officiating are of high standards, but the quality of the pitches and incentives for players leave much to be desired, according to former Hearts of Oak star Esme Mends.
He said the competitiveness of this season’s league can be clearly seen – five teams, Accra Great Olympics, Medeama SC, Karela United, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko – are fiercely in battle to win the league title which wasn’t the case in the season before.
Esme believes that previously, it was difficult for clubs to win away matches due to bad officiating, which left players demotivated any time they played away from home. Meanwhile, these are gradually and increasingly becoming a thing of the past, and the local league is restoring its glory.
Asked about the performance of referees, Esme said he didn’t like to talk about it but believed the referees are humans and they are prone to mistakes.
He advised that we should learn to pardon mistakes made by referees, citing that European referees commit even greater mistakes than our league referees.
“I believe that mistakes made by referees make the league more exciting,” Esme told ghanasportspage.com in an interview.
He noted that the people who called for the implementation of VAR to assist referees make less mistakes have same begun to criticize it.
