It would be interesting to know the kind of strategies agreed upon at a recent crunch meeting in Accra between the Ministry of Sports and the leadership of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) to halt the rapid decline of attendance at Premier league matches.

A statement issued by the Sports Ministry said further consultation would be made between all stakeholders including the Ghana Football Association, the National Sports Authority, the Ghana League Clubs Association and the supporters for their inputs on the strategy to be adopted to address the situation.

“Meanwhile the Minister would like to appeal to supporters of the various clubs to patronise the local league matches to raise enough funds to manage the clubs to develop them to the level that we all desire”, the statement added.

Conspicuously missing from the stakeholders list is the sporting media, precisely the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG). I wonder why.

It is universally acknowledged that competitive sports and Games thrive on publicity. Indeed, if I were still an active SWAG member I would gate crash at the meeting. I will tell the meeting that football is a major source of entertainment so the actors, that is the footballers must be well trained and motivated to give of their best.

The old fashioned jargon that big names don’t matter has proved to be false. Fans pay to see the stars on parade for good entertainment.

Our footballers must live up to expectation. It is natural that they can’t be at their best all the time but you can really see a lazy player if there is one.

The players must be thoroughly brought up by dedicated technical brains.