The Chairperson of Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Dr Ernest Norgbey, has described the Food and Drug Authority’s restriction on advertising alcoholic beverages during sporting activities as an outdated provision that limits funding opportunities for sports development.
He said the Committee had engaged officials of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on the matter and made recommendations to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for a review of the restriction.
Speaking on TV3’s Daily Brief, Thursday, November 5, he said the Committee believes the prohibition prevents sports organisations from attracting sponsorship and generating revenue through partnerships with alcoholic beverage companies.
“We invited the FDA authorities, they were with us and we discussed it and we made our recommendations to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and we also made the FDA know and accept the fact that that particular provision, to us at the Sports fraternity and the Sports Committee, we see it as archaic provision,” he said.
He argued that alcoholic beverage advertising is permitted on social media and traditional television during sporting events in other parts of the world, with such sponsorships serving as important sources of funding for sports leagues.
Dr Norgbey said the restriction was therefore putting Ghana’s sporting sector at a disadvantage and limiting funding sources to develop the industry.
“And when we put in that regulation as a prohibition to advertise alcoholic beverages during sporting activities, it is denying the sporting fraternity of the FA or the Sports Ministry to get source of funding to develop our sports,” he remarked.
Dr Norgbey further explained that the Committee promulgated a Sports Fund Act that incorporated provisions allowing the advertisement of beverages during sporting activities, including both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
“At the end of the day, we promulgated a law, the Sports Fund Act, which we inculcated that particular provision in the Sports Fund Act,” he said.
“As we speak now, it is a law that alcoholic beverages, not only alcoholic beverages, in the law, we stated that beverages can be advertised during sporting activities.”
He said the Act’s interpretation of beverages covers both alcoholic and soft drinks, adding that the provision was intended to create additional revenue streams for sports development.
The Committee, he said, believes that allowing such advertisements would help the Football Association and the Ministry of Youth and Sports mobilise resources to develop the country’s sporting sector.
Dr Norgbey added that the FDA had been informed of the Committee’s concerns and had acknowledged its position on the regulation.
