Ahead of Tuesday's start of the Fifa sponsored Com-Unity be held in Accra, President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi has been highlighting the positives such seminars have on the game.
In a write-up titled: 'The relationship between the football association and the community within which it works,' the FA President gives an insight about the contributions of all stakeholders and their roles.
The Ghana Football Association will be hosting its community partners in a three-day session to improve the value of the sport in the country.
Fifa’s Com-Unity, a presidential programme will seek to gather members of the FA, its government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the country, other partners and the media.
The relationship between the football association and the community within which it works
Every football association exits within a certain socio-cultural and politico-legal milieu. The need for the FA and its community partners to co-exist peacefully and according to the ethics and requirements of law cannot be overstressed.
The relationship between the FA and its community is akin to the relationship between business entities and the society they work in. It is a symbiotic life where the community owes a duty of cooperation and support whereas the business owes what has variously been described as a corporate social responsibility.
In the world of association football, the FA is in a duty bound to cooperate and work with the public, the media, the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) community, the Diplomatic Community and the Government acting through its agencies responsible for Youth, Sports, Education, Health, Interior, just to mention a few.
FIFA, the world football governing body underscores the need for authorities responsible for football to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders in the game.
That is why FIFA spends a sizeable amount of its budget to support programmes and seminars and is using the following elements in the one that will extend the frontiers of a healthy relationship between the FA and its community partners. One such seminar will take place in Accra from 5th to 8th May 2009.
The seminar will highlight the roles and functions of the Government in the development of football at the grass root level. It will also address the collaboration between the FA and the media, the role of sponsorship and marketing in football. We will also be playing host to a wide range of experts from FIFA and Ghana who will do justice to the issues as well as share their personal experiences with the participants who will be drawn from the clubs, the media, Government, diplomatic community and the public. Due to limited facilities available attendance will strictly be by invitation.
The forthcoming seminar is expected to bridge the communication gap between the FA and its community partners and erase the erroneous impression created about the relationship between the FA and the Government. In Ghana today, all manner of persons have suddenly become experts on how Governments should work with FAs and what is Government interference and/or intervention.
FIFA cherishes the collaborative relationship that should exist between FAs and their Governments hence at its Congress in 1994 in Atlanta, USA, the world football controlling body restated the need for this relationship and proceeded to demarcate clear areas of collaboration. This underscored the series of meetings and correspondences between the FA and FIFA in the run up to the promulgation of new statutes for the Ghana FA in 2005.
Following an understanding reached on this collaboration, a protocol aimed at promoting this relationship was drawn up to govern the relationship between the FA and Government.
The outcome of all the meetings, discussions and protocols is that Governments shall not be directly involved in the management of football however, Governments shall be responsible for financing of national teams, security for football matches, taxation and immigration issues in football.
In Ghana, Government and the Football Association have co-existed peacefully over the years. Though football and politics are not bedfellows they have existed in a symbiotic relationship all this while. Why then did there seem to be a friction?
I think a problem has not existed where it has sought to be created. With all due respect, it is regrettable to note that the recent media reports of a seeming acrimony between the FA and Government are simply a creation of our friends of the inky fraternity. There is however the need for us to remain focused and resolute in our desire to achieve the targets we have set ourselves. The FA and Government need to forge closer and work towards their mutual benefit
A smooth relationship between the FA and the Government could strengthen their joint relationship with the diplomatic community.
Over the past 5 years, the FA has benefited tremendously from opportunities to undertake training programmes in coaching extended some Ghanaian coaches by the German Embassy. Notable among coaches who have benefited from this relationship are Frimpong Manso, Mumuni Gamel, Ben Fokuo, Dora Zuta, Maxwell Konadu, Albert Adokorbidzi, Masuud Dramani, Nuru Ahmed, among others. All the coaches are either attached to clubs or the national teams.
It’s hopeful that further collaboration between the FA and the diplomatic community in coaching, youth football, refereeing and other areas of the FA’s programmes could assist in the attainment of our goals. It is in this connection that the embassies and high commissions and NGOs invited to the FIFA Community seminar, are expected to engage the FA on the various opportunities for collaboration it could offer.
In pursuit of its programmes and policies, the FA will invariably require the support of the media. A critical media is quite useful in the preview and review of the programmes and policies of the FA.
We need a media that will set the agenda for a healthy progressive debate of issues in a civil manner and not the one that will resort to the usage of offensive and incourteous language and the worthless persecution of personalities through malicious and defamatory publications under the guise of press freedom. The long arm of the law will pick such media men one after the other.
Throughout history, the media has demonstrated the positives and negatives of its might. We hope media practitioners will always bear the interest of the society they live in mind and uphold the virtues of their profession to the highest standards.
The upcoming seminar will also provide an opportunity for modern managers of football to gain some insightful knowledge into the role of marketing and sponsorship in the game. We probably are yet to fully exploit all the opportunities in marketing. Football has been understood to be the biggest driver and instrument for sale of many products and services.
The FIFA Community seminar will bring to the fore all the strategies needed to market and raise resources for football. Participants will also discuss how to attract and maintain sponsors for football.
The FIFA Community seminar is welcome. Participants are advised to harness fully the opportunity from this seminar and ensure that at the end, they will be richer in knowledge and ideas on new and more efficient methods of running football in its totality in Ghana.
Write-up by Kwesi Nyantakyi