Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku is urging the government to open the gates of state-owned AstroTurf facilities, giving Colts clubs nationwide the chance to play for free.
Okraku made this request on Tuesday at the launch of the 2026/27 Colts Football League season. He said grassroots clubs are finding it harder to secure good venues for their matches.
The GFA President said Ghana now has over 1,000 Colts clubs, but many of them are struggling to find places to play because traditional community fields are disappearing.
“Today, we have a little over a thousand Colts clubs across the country. Our Colts clubs cannot find pitches to play on,” Okraku said.
He said that many pitches that once hosted grassroots football have now been taken over for private development.
“The pitches that we used to play on, the pitches that I used to play Colts on have been taken over by investors,” he added.
Okraku acknowledged that both governments and private individuals have invested in building astroturf facilities across the country. However, he believes that government-owned pitches should be free for Colts clubs to use.
“By the grace of God, we’ve seen some investment in the construction of astroturfs across the country by private individuals and by governments. Now, my appeal is simple. Let us make the government-owned astroturfs available for free to our Colts clubs,” he said.
The GFA President also talked about the high costs of renting pitches. He said that Colts club owners may have to pay between GH¢500 and GH¢1,500 just to secure a venue for one 90-minute match.
“At the moment, Colts club owners are struggling. You want to play a 90-minute game on a pitch, and you have to pay between GH¢500 and GH¢1,500,” Okraku explained.
“Our appeal is very simple. We appreciate the investment in the construction of the astroturf, but we want to use those facilities for our Colts clubs for free.”
Okraku thinks that removing pitch fees would help reduce the financial burden on grassroots clubs and give more young boys and girls a chance to play organized football.
He also said he is confident that President John Dramani Mahama will consider the proposal, since the President is interested in grassroots football and bringing back Colts competitions.
“I’m very sure that President Mahama, given his interests in football and in Colts football, will grant this request and make sure that our young boys and girls have free access to the government-owned Astro pitches across the country,” he said.
This appeal comes as the GFA starts the 2026/27 Colts Football League season. The association wants to strengthen grassroots football in Ghana and make Colts football a key way to find and develop young talent.
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