By Benjamin Mensah, GNA
Accra, Nov 22, GNA - Mr Alex Kofi Agyekum, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth and Sports and Culture, has congratulated and welcomed Mr Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, the new President of the Ghana Football Authority (GFA) to the new position, with a call on his Administration to adopt systematic and pragmatic steps to bring Ghana’s football to its former glory.
Mr Agyekum appealed to all stakeholders in the nation’s football play their roles effectively and support the Kurts Okraku Administration to be very successful.
Mr Agyekum, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpohor Constituency, extended his congratulation and request, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), at the Parliament House, in Accra, where the GNA sought his expectations of the new Administration.
The Media, Mr Agyekum said, should also offer constructive criticisms to the new GFA Management, to lift the game of football to higher heights, rather than, as he put is “give a dog a bad name and hang it.”
It was the expectation of the Chairman that the new management would engage all the players at the all the levels of the nation’s football, to have a more positive orientation to the development of the game.
He gave thumbs up to the Normalisation Committee, set up by world football governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on September 13, 2018, with the mission to revise the Ghana Football Association statutes, conduct elections and manage the daily affairs of country’s football governing body, following the Government of Ghana’s liquidation of the F A as well as FIFA’s decision to discontinue the suspension of FA.
These came up n the aftermath of the Anas Aremeyaw Anas ‘Number 12’ documentary that exposed massive corruption in the nation’s football.
Mr Agyekum said he wished that under the new management, “all the unnecessary politics and pettiness which characterized football administration will be brought to the barest minimum and to allow a free hand to all the new management executives to execute the mandate given them.”
He urged the Kurts Okraku led management to systematically ensure the development of football infrastructure and building of new stadia; as well as work to improve the financial position of the clubs.
“The development of the football infrastructure is very necessary as Ghana would its first All-Africa Games in 2023 after winning the rights for the 13th Edition of the games,” Mr Agyekum said.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports has announced that the continental multi-sport event would be staged in the Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast stadia.
Mr Agyekum further appealed to the new FA management to work out strategies so that clubs would acquire land and develop their own stadia and training ground.”
“I recommend to the new management of the FA to encourage clubs to continue working out plans to have their own training grounds and build their own stadia in the future,” the Chairman said.
He appealed to the Central Government to make required releases to the clubs early, and pledging the Committee’s support to the work of the FA management team. dd
Mr Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku was elected as President of the GFA on Friday 25th October, 2019.
He comes from football, and his love for the game saw him establish a Colts football club in Accra, Shooting Stars FC at the young age of 17 years.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree at University of Ghana in 1997, where he became one of the first volunteer sports presenters/producer for the campus-based radio station, Radio Univers.
Still at a young age, Kurt became the Chairman of the ever famous colts club Jawara Babies and later served as Communication Director of Accra-based Afienya United FC.
From pursuing a Diploma in Journalism at the Ghana Institute of Journalism he went on to study Marketing at the Emile Woolf Colleges in London where he earned an Advanced Certificate.
He later attended a First Aiders Course and a Microsoft Certified System Engineering course all in Manchester, UK; and holds an MBA in Business Administration- Football Industries from University of Liverpool as well as a Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management at the Manchester Trinity College, UK.
On his return to Ghana, he was appointed as the Communications and Marketing Director of Ghana’s oldest football club, Accra Hearts of Oak and later as Administrative Manager of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA).
After forming his own club Dreams FC in 2009, he served other football clubs in various capacities such as Wassaman FC where he was the General Manager.
His rise in the game caught the attention of the Ghana Football Association’s leadership which saw his appointment as a member of the FA Cup Organising Committee. He rose steadily to become a vice Chairman of the Committee from 2016-2017 and eventually chaired the Committee from 2017-2018. He was elected onto the GFA’s Executive Council between 2015 and 2018.
In 2018, Kurt was named as Chairman of the Black Stars "B” Management Committee.
GNA
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