GFA warns betting companies against enlisting Ghana Premier League matches

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has hinted at taking legal action against betting companies who offer odds on Ghana Premier League matches.

Speaking at the football body’s 30th Ordinary Congress in Prampram on Tuesday, GFA president Kurt Okraku said no betting company is currently authorised to enlist the league’s matches on its platform.

He noted that although the GFA is opening to granting betting companies the right to enlist league matches, it must be done the legal way.

“We have not licensed any betting company to take odds on our games. We are going to empower our legal department to confront this issue head-on. It is not okay for betting companies to feed on our football,” Okraku said, as quoted by Ghanaweb.

“It is time to say no to such companies. We are open to doing it the legal way. We will invite companies who want to partner with us to speak to us.”

Ghana Premier League lacking headline sponsor

Meanwhile, the Ghana Premier League is currently without a headline sponsor after betPawa pre-maturely abrogated its deal.

In August 2022, the GFA and betPawa signed a three-year contract worth $6 million to be disbursed across the period.

This meant the Ghanaian topflight was supposed to get $2 million from betPawa in each of the years that the company would be sponsoring the league.

However, the Ghana Premier League is currently without a headline sponsor after betPawa abruptly announced an end to its headline sponsorship last November.

Meanwhile, allegations of match-fixing have also been rife in recent years following some high-profile scandals in the league.

During the 2020/21 season, the Disciplinary Committee of the GFA ruled that the high-scoring matchday 34 game between the Ashanti Gold and Inter Allies was fixed.

This followed Ashanti Gold’s emphatic 7-0 win over Allies at the Len Clay Stadium on the final day of that campaign, where the away side’s Hashmin Musah deliberately scored two own goals.

Last season, the Ghana Premier League was hit by another scandal after Real Tamale United (RTU) fielded unregistered players in their 8-1 defeat against Dreams FC.

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