The Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association has imposed a fine of GH₵5000 each on four division one clubs after lifting a two-year ban on them.
The clubs include Techiman City FC, Berekum Arsenals FC, Okyeman Planners FC, and New Edubiase FC. Earlier the Disciplinary Committee banned the clubs from participating in the MTN FA Cup Competition for various offenses.
However, the Appeals Committee considered the consolidated depositions of the four clubs. Consequently, it has decided to uphold the decision of the Disciplinary Committee’s earlier ruling except for the two-year ban on all four clubs.
According to the Appeals Committee, “the onset and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the suspension of the League itself makes this 2-year ban unsupportive and unsustainable”.
MTN FA Cup Draw
Meanwhile, thedraw for the Preliminary round will take place on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, at 3 pm.
Forty-eight (48) Division One Clubs and forty-four (44) Division Two clubs across the country will play at this stage of the competition.
However, the GFA is considering grouping clubs into the 16 Political Regions instead of the 10 Football Regions. This aims to reduce traveling time, cost and facilitate more local derbies for the Preliminary Stage. This will possibly be a new addition to the structure of the competition.
Moreover, the Preliminary stage of the 2020/21 MTN FA Cup competition is scheduled for Friday, May 14 to Thursday, May 20, 2021. The Winners of this preliminary round will join the 18 Premier League clubs for the round of 64. Overall, 110 Clubs will take part in the competition.
The grand launch of the 2020/21 season and draw for the Round of 64 will take place at MTN House on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. The Winner of the MTN FA Cup represents Ghana in the CAF Confederation Cup.
MTN sponsorship for the FA Cup
Meanwhile, earlier this week, MTN Ghana extended its sponsorship for the FA Cup for 3 more seasons. According to the GFA, the total sponsorship package is worth over GH₵ 4,000,000.00.
The package includes an annual sponsorship amount of GH₵1000.000.00. It also includes GH₵20,000.00 for the ‘Man of the Match’ prize and MTN products worth GH₵390,000.00. The new agreement starts from the current 2020/21 season to the end of the 2022-23 football season.
“As a company that connects people, we are happy to use football as an avenue for our customers to entertain themselves” .
Chief Marketing Officer for MTN, Mr. Noel Kojo-Ganson
He indicated that “the revival of the game will go a long way to strengthen the existing Football Clubs”. Also, he stated that it will help “unearth more talents, drive competition and make Ghana Football the envy of Africa”.
The Ghana Football Association commenced this great relationship with MTN in the 2010-11 season, to revive the FA Cup competition. Since the first agreement, the parties have renewed the sponsorship on two occasions – 2013 and 2017. The total sponsorship package was GHc1,100,000.00 per year.
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