Former Black Stars attacker, Odartey Lamptey says talented Ghanaian footballers are not encouraged to stay in the country’s Premier League because they earn meagre salaries.
His comments come on the back of the viral video of about 22 Ghanaian players, including Black Stars 2010 World Cup defender Lee Addy, begging to be brought back home as they are stranded in Ethiopia.
The video left Ghanaians worried however some were also disappointed and criticised the players for abandoning the local league for a relatively unknown football country like Ethiopia.
But Odartey has jumped to the defence of the players. According to the former Eleven Wise coach, the players will not go to Ethiopia and other countries to play if their wages in Ghana was good enough.
“The problem is that players in Ghana think they are not getting enough money here so they go elsewhere. Who are you to advise him not to go? At the end of the day, everyone talks about life after football so you have to take care of yourself,” Odartey said on Ghnews.
“If we are not able to change our attitude and pay our players well, this thing won’t change. I understand that sponsorship is a problem so some of the clubs find it difficult to pay players but I’m sure we have a lot of huge companies in Ghana.”
He, however, showed his faith in the current Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kurt Okraku. He believes that his administration will find innovative ways to combat the problem.
“With this new FA [led by Kurt], I believe he is doing things behind the scenes. We should be able to bounce back. Clubs should be able to get sponsors and we should be able to pay players well. I was very sad to see the players in the videos from Ethiopia, India and others.”
