The fundamental problem of the Ghanaian football league: A focus on the organisation of grassroots football
Date
2020-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Grassroots football is a key component in developing young talents for a
professional career. Over the years, the performance of Ghana’s premier league has
been declining as most young talented football players prefer to play in top-flight
European leagues that pay well. To improve the organisation of grassroots for the
premier league’s benefit, this study examined how grassroots football can improve the
performance of the league, and how practices from topflight leagues that can be
inculcated in improving the Ghanaian premier league.
Using the mixed method, interviews were conducted and secondary data on the
average salaries of players were collated. 23 individuals involving football journalists,
grassroots football players, grassroots football coaches, personnel from the GFA and
retired football players and coaches were interviewed.
Results showed that, the GDP per capita (PPP) of a country does not have a
direct influence on the average salaries of players, rather the demand for football
matches does. Hence, a way to generate revenue for the league teams is to increase the
demand of the league by creating a link between the league teams and their
communities. A fundamental way to do this, is to improve the organisation of grassroots
football. As established by literature, investing in grassroots football can help create a
system for developing young talents that can contribute to improving the performance
of the league. The study showed that, adopting the academy system as practiced by many footballing nations is a step to improving the organisation of grassroot football.
Description
Undergraduate thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, May 2020
item.page.type
Thesis
item.page.format
Keywords
football players, Ghana Football Association (GFA), grassroots football, academy system