Former Ghana international Sam Johnson has called for the Ghana Premier League to handed over to an independent organization to manage.
Johnson, who garnered 45 caps for the Black Stars his illustrious footballing career intimated that, the league should be handed over to an independent institution to manage due to clubs inability to pay their players on time and adequately.
“We must get an independent body to run our league; both for the premier and the lower division. In this case, the independent body can ensure that the right salaries are paid, and on time. We have good players but because they are not paid well, they are not motivated enough to play and hence their performances dwindle abysmally. This is the reason our players move to any country in search of greener pasture, which eventually destroys their career," Johnson told Happy Fm's Anopa Bosuo Sports.
The 44-year-old further emphasized that if the Premier League is given to experts to run, clubs will act more professionally and will not put up behaviour that will put the image of the league into disrepute.
He cited the incident where Aduana Stars supporters resisted StarTimes to telecast their Premier League game against Kotoko.
“When Aduana stopped StarTimes from televising their game against Kotoko, what punishment were they given? That GHc 20,500 fine is not punitive enough but if they were banned for six or eight home matches, they wouldn’t do that next time. Because the Premier League Board is made of the clubs themselves, their decisions are affected by the mutuality of friendships hence, if an independent body is instituted to enforce strict and severe punishment on the clubs, the violence will cease."
Finally, Johnson congratulated Ghanaian coaches for their ability to lead and manage our local club whose players do not have the mental, social and financial stability to play football. “I will congratulate our local coaches who are able to manage these players who are not sound financially to get the best out of them," he deduced.