Brains Tired At Helm Of Football

As I sat in the stands watching football in my village last week, one thing was obvious. First the turnout of the community to the “park” was striking compared to back in the days when village “parks” attracted huge spectators.

Local Wembleys were places where the people gravitated to on days that the schools engaged in competitive football or when neighbouring communities slugged it out. What this means at the local levels means that competitive sports are dead at all levels.

Many years ago, the government put in place elaborate programmes to develop sports from the village to the national level.

At the time when the frontiers of communications were limited, people in the rural communities could talk about colts football in Accra, inter schools and colleges games and community soccer fiestas. That explains the sterling performance of Ghana at athletics meets and soccer tournaments, especially in Africa.

By 1978, Ghana had won the African Cup for the third time while other countries that were featuring in the round of eight at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire did not have a sovereign identity.

The countries that were independent were struggling to stand on their feet. We have not been able to manage our post independent successes. Ghana did not expect other African countries to remain in the lower ranks of development.

Remember, our first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah declared independence thus, “The independence of Ghana will be meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation of Africa.” We cannot envy the rise of football in Mauritania and Cabo Verde and not to forget Comoros which humiliated Ghana at AFCON 2021.

The brains of those at the helm of our sports at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Sports Authority and the Ghana Football Association are tired and may have left their bodies long ago.

Unlike artistes who are encouraged to exit the stage when the applause is loud, the football people and by extension sports persons have no such counsel. When they have failed like the state of Ghana sports, they are waiting to be “hooted” rather than applauded. Ghana abounds in talents. The missing link is the inability of the football people to harness the talents. What is the essence of juvenile football when there are no strategies to help the young ones to transition into the senior national team?

After the 2009 Under 20 team that won the World Cup and some of them gained call up to the Black Stars, have the youth teams served any end? We just spend public resources on these youth teams without any gain. As for the female teams, they are not on the minds of Kurt Okraku and his executives.

Some have suggested to President Akufo-Addo to dissolve the GFA and face the wrath of FIFA but it looks like the President lacks the courage to dare the world’s football governing body. I endorse such a call as it gives Ghana space to reorganise our game.

We are told one of these tired brains at the helm of sports last Saturday contested the primaries of the NPP in Ahafo Ano South West and had seven. As for the people of Ahafo Ano South West know the capacity of Prof Peter Twumasi.

Our tragedy is that in our part of the world people don’t check themselves for public service as the veritable J.H. Mensah once said. Countrymen what bond exists between former President John Mahama and LGBTQ activist, Andrew Solomon.

To gain the favour of the faith group in the upcoming elections, John Mahama has denounced LGBTQ forcing Andrew Solomon to call him a hypocrite. Mr former President please tell Ghanaians the extent of your relationship with gay activist, Andrew Solomon.

Is the reality that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, and his team have become clueless about how to improve the revenue base of the country beyond imposing taxes on the already overburdened citizens? What is this Emission Levy about and what benefits would it inure to the state? Let us move away from taxes to production because that is a more progressive action.

And the fine hour is here to listen to the NPP’s flagbearer, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, discuss how he intends to pursue his own vision, backed by the beautiful free Nana Akufo-Addo, sans the ugly of the last seven years.

Already social media is buzzing ahead of the highly anticipated vision of the financial whizzkid for the country.

Mr. Vice President before you mount the podium at the UPSA next Wednesday to tell us more about your campaign, get your strategic communication team to work to devise ways to combat the Goebbelsian liars and their corps of propagandists in NDC, media, academia, civil society and some merchants of God masquerading as men of God.