Promotion to the Ghana Premier League (GPL) from Zone One could be determined via a play-off final should Tamale City and Nsuatreman FC both win their match day 30 fixtures this weekend.
Tamale City currently leads the Zone One table with 68points, same as Nsuatreman FC with a game each to end the season.
Tamale City will play their last match against Bolga Allstars on Saturday at the Aliu Mahama Stadium in Tamale while Nsuatreman FC will play against Unity FC on Sunday. Should both clubs win their respective matches, then a neutral venue will be picked for a play off at a later date to know who plays in the GPL next season.
This was disclosed by General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Prosper Harisson Addo Esq. when he spoke to Abdul Majeed Abdulai on Diamond FM’s Yelivuhi Saha program on Thursday morning.
The GFA General Secretary used the opportunity to thank all teams in Tamale and all stakeholders for the show of maturity and good sportsmanship when Baffour Soccer Academy visited Tamale on Wednesday to play their outstanding Division One Zone One league match against Dreams Tamale FC.
Not only did Baffour Soccer Academy win the game 1-0 but they also enjoyed an escort out of Tamale by officials and supporters of Tamale City so that they don’t get attacked by anyone. The match was originally scheduled to have been played on 27th May, 2022 but was postponed for security reasons. Intelligence gathered on the ground was that some supporters were preparing to carry out an attack on Baffour Soccer Academy in retaliation for how their supporters assaulted Tamale City in Nsuatre when they drew 1-1 with them on 5th May, 2022.
However, the pre-match engagements with supporters and all stakeholders coupled with the press release offering them assurance from Tamale City ensured that the game went ahead without any hitches. Baffour Soccer Academy were escorted into Tamale on arrival and escorted again out of Tamale after the match.
The GFA General Secretary also used the opportunity to explain further what will happen should Tamale City and Nsuatreman all win their last matches. He said based on the use of the head-to-head rule, a play off will be organized at a venue to be determined by the GFA.
“So when we finish match day 30 and two clubs are having the same points, we will look at only the matches they played, their home match and away match, only those two matches, the score line there and if the score line is the same, then the only thing left to be done is to organize a one-off match for the two of them to separate them. And that one-off match will be at a neutral venue to be determined by the FA.”
On the possible neutral venue should there be a need for a play-off, Prosper Harisson Addo added that, “the rule says the GFA should determine, so we have to move away from the zone, so when it comes to that we are not just looking at the zone but the entire Ghana and not just the zone. The match will be moved away from the zone altogether to a neutral venue that everybody will appreciate that it doesn’t give advantage to anybody.”
Tamale City are gunning to be third time lucky as they have fell short on two previous occasions in their bid to play in Ghana’s top flight league competition.
