The Ghana Football Association (GFA) Congress has voted for an 18-team Premier League for the 2019-20 season, increasing the number of clubs from 16.
Also, the Ghana Division One League will have 49 teams for the 2019-20 term, instead of the regular 48.
The decisions were taken at the GFA Elective Congress on Friday, which will see a new president voted for to lead the West Africans country’s football’s governing body for the next four years.
The changes happened following a proposal by the GFA Normalisation Committee (NC) in the wake of outstanding legal battles by the three admitted clubs against the FA concernimg unhappiness about issues surrounding their demotions from the various leagues in past seasons.
Great Olympics and King Faisal are contesting their relegation from the Premier League under unfair circumstances in the 2013-14 and 2016-17 terms, respectively.
The number of participants in the Premier League will, however, be restored to 16 for the 2020-21 season by the relegation of five teams and promotion of three teams from the Division One League at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
Goal understands Congress is likely to make a permanent amendment to the FA statutes to maintain the number of teams in the Premier League at 18 beyond the 2019-20 season.
According to NC president Kofi Amoah, restoring the three teams to the leagues will call off the standing legal battles and forestall any possible disruption of the 2019-20 league calendar. It will also ensure the new GFA administration starts work on a “clean slate”.
With the November 3 tentative start date of the league unlikely to take effect due to the new FA administration assuming office only a week earlier, the NC also tabled a proposal for the kick-off date to be moved forward by two weeks to November 17.
Congress, however, rejected this proposal, stating any amendment to the current start date should be left to be decided by the new FA administration.
The 2019-20 campaign will mark the return of league football in Ghana since a bribery and match-fixing scandal disrupted the 2017-18 term, truncating the season halfway.
source: Goal
