The debate over what exactly is killing the quality of the local league has been going on for a long time. One particular problem is the dearth of quality in the local league.

This is mostly because if a player explodes for just a season on the local scene, the next thing you hear he has moved to a foreign league. A lot of times, he does not move to any proper foreign league, sometimes moving to leagues in countries such as Vietman, Thailand, India. etc

Speaking to Graphic Sports, vice chairman of Ghana FA Cup Committee and executive chairman of newly-promoted Ghana Premier League side Dreams FC, Kurt Okraku; said player sales do not create problems for the league, but rather brings in revenue for the clubs.

“I still stand by the sale of players to foreign clubs,” Okraku told the paper.

“We all have to be real in our sport. In football, the biggest source of revenue is not sponsorship. It’s from player trading.

“When a player is sold to the international market, clubs in all tiers of our game have the chance to earn from it.

“So, if indeed player trading is our biggest earner, why must we stop? It does not make sense to me.”

There are many other factors killing our league, such as poor pitches and empty stadiums; but a dearth of quality players is another big problem. As mentioned earlier, some of these players go to countries with far worse leagues than the Ghana league, and the lack of continuity keeps making our local clubs progressively worse as they consistently lose their best players.

However, as long as the remuneration for the players on the local scene remains as pitiable as it is, you cannot in good conscience wonder why any player would leave the country, as they would earn more than they would down here no matter where they go.