Yaw Sakyi Afari, head of RITE Sports Services, the marketers and producers of the University of Ghana Corporate Football League, has explained the rationale behind the strict restrictions on the number of national service and contract staff from participating corporate bodies in the inaugural league.
In an exclusive interview with Universports, the seasoned Sports Events Consultant clarified that allowing young national service personnel to outnumber their older counterparts would hinder the organizers’ aim of offering older individuals the chance to showcase their skills.
“The reason why we’ve decided to restrict the participation of National Service personnel as well as contract staff is to close that window which gives teams the opportunity to parade young players who will come and disturb the older folks. This is a corporate league and the concept or the idea is to afford matured people who normally wouldn’t make time to exercise regularly the opportunity to come and showcase their skills, run, sweat and then network- he said.
“We want to also avoid a situation where a team will parade only young people which will be to the disadvantage of those who want to showcase or feature their top executives, who are more matured and probably might not have the kind of energy that the young people possess and so that is the rationale behind the restriction” – he added
He further specified the exact number of contract and national service personnel eligible to play for each team.
“So the number is now set at two?” he confirmed. “Yes, as discussed in the meeting, we will allow the registration of up to four National Service personnel and contract staff, but only two of them will be eligible to feature in each matchday.”- he concluded.
The much-awaited University of Ghana Corporate League, featuring sixteen (16) teams, is set to deliver twenty (20) weeks of exciting football, starting this February and concluding in July.
The matches will take place under the floodlights at the University of Ghana Stadium, with the event designed to foster stronger connections between corporate organizations and the university community, while also promoting health and sportsmanship.
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Story by Asack Pius|univers.ug.edu.gh
