January 6 – New Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kurt Okraku has acted swiftly to crackdown on the illegal betting markets being offered by bookmakers on the country’s Premier League (GPL), threatening legal action.
The GFA has instructed its lawyers to take action against betting operators offering markets on the GPL, saying that has not given its authorisation or a license to any betting company.
A GFA statement told operators to stop “placing odds on Ghana Premier League matches without the necessary authorisation from the GFA”, saying that the league was enforcing “its status as the owner of all marketing, commercial and all rights associated with the Ghana Premier League.”
The GFA has also asked the Gaming Commission of Ghana, to consider the “illegal activities of their licenced betting companies against the GFA and its members…The GFA seriously frowns on such flagrant violation of the marketing and commercial rights of the Ghana Premier League, and will not countenance any ambush marketing on its product.”
New rules that came in with Okraku stipulated betting operators must seek authorisation or a licence from the GFA before offering odds.
Africa is a hotbed of match-fixing and while the money the gambling operators bring is welcomed by the game’s administrators, the threats to the integrity of the sport aren’t. In Ghana, as in most countries worldwide, players are expressly prohibited by their national association from placing bets on matches.
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