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The Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), says the health and fitness of players furnished their decision to merge Sunday’s Super Clash and the 2023 President’s Cup.
After announcing their decision to have the Super Clash serve as this year’s President’s Cup, fans and pundits have torn into GHALCA and its leaders.
But to the football clubs body, the criticism is arbitrary.
“You know the challenges we had last season in putting together the President’s Cup. We played the super clash only two weeks to the 2nd round of the super clash in the premier league, putting too much pressure on our players and also having one too many Kotoko-Hearts clashes.
“Like we did last year, government and GHALCA thought the President’s Cup should serve as a precursor to the Independence Day celebrations. So last year we played on March 3, a Friday evening at the Accra Sports Stadium.
“So we wanted to repeat the same thing either in Accra or Kumasi, but looking at the fixtures; we have the Mantse Derby on Wednesday, we can’t play a competitive game within 48 hours,” Cudjoe Fianoo, chairman of GHALCA said to Joy Sports.
Last year, Hearts of Oak beat Kotoko 2-1, in the presence of a vociferous Hearts fan crowd at the Accra Sports Stadium, which chanted the name of Samuel Boadu.
One year down the line, and fans are no longer interested in attending local matches.
Match access for round-of-16 MTN FA Cup fixtures were made free for women and children under 15, however, attendance at the biggest clash on the calendar between Premier League leaders, Aduana and Kotoko, was not encouraging.
So with the current fan disinterest in local football, what are the chances of playing the President’s Cup in a close-to-empty stadium.
“The stakes are high anytime Hearts and Kotoko meet. The two teams are still in the hunt for the Premier League title, so it’s expected numbers will throng the Accra Sports Stadium to watch their two teams. We are just taking advantage of the situation and based on the fact that there’s massive fixture congestion, we’re ensuring we wrap it up and get this event off the ground.
“We are hopeful numbers will throng the stadium to watch this titanic clash. It’s a Premier League clash and a President’s Cup – that’s a double dose,” GHALCA communications director, Patrick Akoto ended.
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