GFA commits GHS 1.4m a year to Elite Football Academies

The Ghana Football Association will invest GHS 1.4 million every year in its three Elite Football Academies, president Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku has announced. The commitment is designed to create a sustained route for talented young players into professional football and Ghana’s national teams.

Okraku disclosed the figure while addressing delegates at the GFA’s 32nd Ordinary Congress on Thursday, August 20. The academy project forms part of the association’s “Power to the Youth” strategy, which focuses on finding promising players and supporting their development.

The programme combines football training with formal education. Players are expected to continue their schooling as they receive structured coaching, giving the association’s youth system an academic element alongside its sporting objectives.

Eleven players from the GFA Elite Football Academy are currently members of Ghana’s Under-17 national team. Their involvement in the youth side was presented as evidence that the association’s talent identification and development structure is producing players for the national setup.

Progress has also been recorded in the classroom. The first group of academy players has completed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and is preparing to graduate, extending the project’s focus beyond football development.

The GFA has recruited 10 technical staff members to support the academies. The group includes coaches, goalkeeping coaches and physiotherapists, with the personnel working at the facilities based at Prempeh College in Kumasi and Achimota Senior High School in Accra. Their roles cover training and player welfare as the association continues to build the academy system.