Coronavirus: Ghana Football Association Suspends Premier League

The top-flight has been rocked by a setback as cases of the pandemic continue to rise.

The Ghana Football Association has announced the suspension of all its competitions in compliance with a national directive banning all public gatherings, including sporting events, in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ghana Premier League, which has reached its matchweek 15 stage, as well as the Ghana men's FA Cup and the Women's Premier League and Women's FA Cup, have been affected.

Ghana has so far confirmed six cases of the coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, a worrying situation leading to the presidential directives on Sunday night. The GFA promptly reacted to the order, releasing a statement on the status of its competitions.

"The Ghana Football Association following the directives given by the President of the Republic on Sunday, March 15, 2020, has suspended all its competitions with immediate effect until further notice," the GFA announced via its official website.

"In a statement released last week, the GFA announced that while all competitions will go ahead as scheduled it will continue to liaise with Government, the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health and follow all national health protocols on the matter.

"The Government of Ghana announced new protocols on Sunday and consequently the GFA will immediately follow the new issued protocols and guidelines.

"The Association will continue to engage the relevant institutions on this matter and update its members and all stakeholders of any changes."

There had been growing concerns about the safety of team officials, players and fans alike amid reported new coronavirus cases globally.

Six league matches were played on Sunday, with two more games involving giants Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak scheduled to take place on Monday to wrap up matchweek 15's round of games.

Ghana joins the likes of England, USA, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Morocco to have pulled the plug on their national leagues in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.