By S. Siapha Mulbah
The President of the Liberia Football Association, Mustapha I. Raji, has emphasized the need for attracting investors to the ball game in Liberia, noting that football development requires investment.
In a stakeholders media engagement recently held at the headquarters of the Liberia Football Association in Congo town, the president of the association intimated that in order for the game to grow in the country, as in other parts of the world, there is a need for investors to see the sport as a business brand and put in some resources that can enable the association to continue with its work across the entire football community.
Raji explained that the task to mobilize resources from potential partners and donors that are given to clubs in subventions and sub-sides, to have the clubs running in the various leagues, is tedious, which the clubs need to buttress in seeking their own partnerships and sponsorships.
He said clubs have refused to work around making their brands attractive for business purposes. “We have tried to inform the various clubs about the importance of branding for investors’ attraction. Making a brand for your club will help you a lot because there are businesses and entities that will seek working opportunities with a well branded club once you are ready. This will help cover some of the expenses that the clubs go through, making operations easy.”
According to him, the football association, through its executive committee, gets partnerships from institutions like Orange Liberia, Petro Trade, and Aqualife Mineral water on an annual and season basis, but decides on what the proceeds from those partnerships are used for.
“These partnerships and sponsorship monies go back to the various clubs in the first, second, and upper women’s leagues. There are still many other areas that the football association has to look at, in order to develop football. We cannot do all by giving more than what we are giving to each of the big clubs, because other competitions and teams have to participate in the programs and play the game of football,” he disclosed.
