The Allies chief is excited by the imminent start of the local topflight after months of delay, and says the Eleven-Is-To-One are ready for the big kick-off.
Finally, the countdown has begun! After several weeks of waiting, the Ghana Football Association has confirmed February 20 as the date to commence the 2015-16 Ghana Premier League season.
As part of Goal’s coverage of the new season, we caught up with Inter Allies chief executive officer Eric Delali Senaye to discuss issues ranging from the unfortunate delay, expectations for the coming season, among others.
How refreshing was it upon hearing the GFA’s announcement of February 20 as the day of commencement of the 2015-16 Ghana Premier League?
It’s very refreshing because at least we get to plan towards the kick-off because we now have a date. We have to reschedule our activities so as to be in top shape for the commencement.
How did the delay affect your team’s preparations?
We’ve learnt lessons from the 2014-15 season, when the league was delayed as well. So for this season, we just had to adjust to the situation. We broke the boys, so financially we were on holidays, but it definitely did have some costs.
Hasn’t the delay taken the steam out of your players?
We need six weeks for pre-season. We recalled the boys from holidays just after Christmas. From that time until kick-off is more than six weeks. So it’s within time.
What do you think can be done in the future to forestall such occurrences?
Clubs should learn to have faith in the judicial system of the FA. Once that is done, these issues of legal tussles will be eliminated and there will be no delay. But you can’t stop clubs from going to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) because it’s stated in our regulations. You can’t punish a club for that while your disciplinary code permits it. If it’s the regular court, I will agree with the punishment but not when it has to do with CAS.
How bad is that the league will be kicking off without a headline sponsor following the withdrawal of last season’s sponsors First Capital Plus Bank [now Capital Bank]?
It’s not a comfortable situation but that’s what we find ourselves in. We’ll try to make the best out of the situation and see how clubs can individually get sponsorship. Collectively, efforts are underway to secure a title sponsor for the league. We’re hoping for the best. The GFA has been trying to build the capacity of clubs over the years but those are things you do not have control over. Soon, we’ll be a bit relieved when we have such corporate sponsors coming on board to support.
Could it have been more prudent to hold on to the commencement of the league until a title sponsor is confirmed?
All the stakeholders are calling for the commencement of the league - club owners, administrators, media, supporters and even politicians were wondering what was holding up the league. It’s the right call. We can’t keep waiting.
Allies have a new coach in Herbert Addo who replaced Paa Kwesi Fabin. What is the target for him this season and the club as a whole?
Inter Allies always set a goal of finishing in the top four but on two occasions we finished sixth. So we’ll work hard in the coming season and collectively, we’ll see how best we can find ourselves within the top four. That’s our target.
Does that mean Allies do not have a specific target of lifting the trophy?
The title comes along when you plan well and work hard. After the first round you can assess and see if you can go for the title, but not just at the beginning of the season. If we can be among the top four, we can win the title. If you look at the point gap between the first 10 teams last season, it wasn’t much. We’ll see how it goes and we’ll work towards it. But we’re realistic. If you want to win the Ghana Premier League, it goes beyond talking. It’s really hardwork and it needs budget to back it.
Have Inter Allies made any major signings to propel their ambitions?
This time around, I was shocked to see that all the media houses have a list of all the players registered by the clubs. So it’s there for all to see.
What are you last words to all supporters of Inter Allies?
We’ve been happy with them over the years and they should continue to encourage our boys like they always do. They should keep advising our players to remain focused. We appreciate them a lot and they should keep cheering for us. We’ll do our best as a club to keep their hopes high by exhibiting quality as we always do. We’ll take our matches seriously and deliver wins that will enable them continue to cheer us up. I thank them.
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