GFA Vs Sports Ministry: Who Wins And Who Losses?

Football and Politics are said to be two aspects of our society that have nothing in common. Thus, they are like petrol and fire. They don't meet.

But history has also proven that politics often manifest itself through football, and football has often been used by politicians as a propaganda tool.

Politicians all over the world use football to divert attention from some unpopular activities. They also used it to promote a cause, solidify their reputation, identity and social status.

For instance, the 1978 World Cup in Argentina was used by the country’s dictators to create the impression to the rest of the world that, there was harmony under the dictatorship.

Our own Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is said to have used sports, chiefly football, in his bid to promote African unity. He also created a ministerial portfolio and appointed Ohene Djan as the Chairman of the Amateur Football Association (GAFA) in 1960.

Again, former President Rawlings also used football to, somewhat, legitimise his 1982 coupé in the eyes of the citizenry when he gave the Black Stars the green light to go and participate in the Afcon tournament in Libya where the Stars eventually won the championship.

Ghanaian FA chairmen have over the years enjoyed a relatively harmonious relationship with the sports ministry. From the days of the first GAFA chairman to even the current GFA President, Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi.

This harmonious relationship has, however, become peevish since the appointment of Hon. Nii Lantey Vanderpuije as the Sports Minister.

Mr. Vanderpuije, before his appointment, together with the likes of Mr. Addey Coker and Mr. Kwadwo Bonsu were purported to have tried ousting Mr. Nyantakyi and his cohorts from the FA.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA), headed by its President, Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, is perceived by most Ghanaian soccer enthusiasts as a very corrupt institution. In fact some sarcastically say; "if you want to make quick money, join the GFA".

So the appointment of Mr.Vanderpuije, a former footballer, administrator, and Sports Journalist, was greeted with so much joy by many followers of Ghana football as they saw him as the messiah who had been sent by President Mahama to come and save Ghana sports, largely football, from the hands of the "milkers".

Mr. Vanderpuije's rancid history with the FA coupled with his recent public utterances, somehow, elicited a sort of pugnacious posturing from the leadership of the FA, whence the rift between the Sports Minister and the FA President.

Alhaji A.B.A Fusieni, noted for his proverbial prowess, once said "If somebody passes bad air on you and you're overzealous to retaliate, you may end up bringing out the real thing".

The "real thing" the GFA is "bringing out" due to the utterances of the Sports Minister, here, is the negative impact their impasse with the Sports ministry is having on the national teams.

Already the CHAN and the under-20 teams have all failed to qualify for their respective competitions. The Black Maidens just got booted out of the Women U-17 tournament in Jordan due to lack of proper preparation before and during the tournament, and this was largely attributed to the seemingly unending impasse between the FA and the Sports ministry.

The Black Stars, after that lackadaisical performance against Uganda in the world cup group opener, have just been handed a tough draw at next year's Afcon tournament, and even before the draw, most Ghanaian football Journalists and pundits have already described next year's Afcon as the time for Ghana to end its almost 35 years of trophy drought, but how can this dream come to reality if the impasse continues unabated?

History has again proven that where there is harmony between the GFA and the Sports Ministry, the national teams have always performed better, and both the GFA and the Sports Ministry have basked in the credit.

If the CHAN and the U-20 teams had both qualify for the CHAN tournament and the AYC tournament respectively, not only were the individual players going to benefit, the GFA and the Sport ministry would have also benefited. We all know how both the erstwhile government and the current government bragged about who qualified the Stars first to the world cup and who has qualify the team most to the world cup.

In fact the current government still touts the heroics of the Dede Ayew lead U-20 in 2009 as one of its major achievement in the area of sports. I'm quite sure the story would have been no different had the female U-17 team won the championship in Jordan.

The GFA also touted the Black Stars qualifications to the world cup and the 2009 U-20 world cup glory as its biggest achievements.

So I ask the question; who wins and who losses in this fruitless battle of supremacy?

Unfortunately, it appears the feud has reached a point of no return. it's like stepping into a Chameleon faeces. Returning is impossible and moving forward is a great difficulty.

But as adults and professional as they are, I expect them to find a happy medium, because our national teams, club owners, players, coaches, and agents are silently suffering from this elephant fight.

The FA must do away with the aggressive and combative manner with which they address or respond to issues relating to them. Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi must ride himself off the "bootlickers" who have surrounded him, because no "bootlicker" would look you in the eye and tell you the truth where you are wrong.

As Alhaji A.B.A Fusieni succinctly put it, "the panacea for hunger is not to hoard the faeces in your stomach". The Sports Minister must understand that, the panacea for saving the national teams, and by extention Ghana sports, off the hands of the "milkers" is not through this needless show of power. Mr. Vanderpuije must as well be weary of the "bootlickers" around him.

Ghanaian fans are seriously demanding for a trophy from the Senior national team, especially, and they see next year's Afcon (and rightly so), as the time for the stars to finally bring home a trophy, by hook or crook. And so the GFA and the Sports ministry must get their acts together to deliver this trophy.

By Bagulube Moro Salifu.
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