A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyapong, believes the overconcentration on the money-making aspect of football is having a dire effect on the sport in the country.

According to him, football fanatics had deep-rooted attachments to their teams in the past.

He cited regional clubs such as Sekondi Hasaacas FC, Savannah Stars, Gbewa United, which were charactarised by the passion of the people and drove patronage and communality.

But that love, Mr Agyapong believes, is long gone. He attributes it to over-commercialization which had given rise to individualism "where people have spawned football clubs and all of a sudden they find themselves running football."

"And so people have become more and more detached," he added.

He made these comments during a yet-to-be-aired interview on JoyNews' PM Express on Friday, March 4, 2022.

Mr Agyapong, however, did not rule out the inception of satellite television which invited competition from international leagues taking a chunk of viewership.

The party stalwart subsequently proffered solutions such as collaboration between the country and football stakeholders in order to restore the glory of the sport locally.

Mr Agyapong was one of 17 aspirants who contested to replace John Agyekum Kufuor as NPP's presidential candidate for the 2008 election.

In 2014, he became the General Secretary for the party until his suspension in 2015. The NPP’s Executive Council (NEC) later restored his membership in May 2021.