Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has encouraged Ghanaian clubs to adopt the CAF Club Licensing Online Platform (CLOP) system to advance football in the country and across Africa.
CLOP is an electronic tool developed by CAF to oversee the club licensing and stadium inspection process for continental and domestic competitions.
It allows Member Associations to manage a fully automated and electronic club licensing process, enabling clubs to submit their documents virtually.
Speaking to Ghana's Premier League, Women's Premier League, and National Division One League clubs at a workshop organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Accra, Okraku emphasised the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing for enhancing football in Ghana.
The one-day stakeholder workshop, held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on May 23, 2024, was part of CAF's initiative to create world-class administrative structures through the CLOP system.
Attendees included representatives from 18 Ghana Premier League, 20 Women’s Premier League, and 48 Division One League clubs.
"I am very happy to be seeing all the beautiful faces of our Licensing Board, Appeals Board, Premier, Women and Division One League members duly represented here. I am happy all of you accepted the invitation to be part of this workshop," Okraku stated.
He expressed gratitude to CAF for choosing Ghana to host the workshop and stressed the importance of investing in such events for the development of the game.
Okraku highlighted the significance of the workshop as a platform for engagement, learning, and capacity building.
He reflected on the efforts made since 2019 to improve the administration and management of football in Ghana.
"We have pursued the journey of continuously improving systems, processes, and the general health and management of our football," he noted.
He also pointed out the increased focus on financial documents for licensing and urged clubs to meet the required standards.
"For those of you who have, rather unfortunately, not been entirely up to speed with this requirement, you would need to up your game!" he cautioned.
Okraku called for greater collaboration with the Club Licensing regime to deliver high-quality football, emphasising the importance of honesty and transparency.
He assured that the FA would continue to invest in initiatives like this workshop to improve the standards in all leagues.
"Let's work, let's deliver our football in its best possible manner so that the direct consumers of our game - our fans, sponsors, partners, prospective investors and Media partners will be happy with our offering," he concluded.
The workshop participants expressed enthusiasm for implementing the system, which will be operational in the 2024/2025 season.