Ghana football must be overhauled

One recreational activity that has broken political barriers in this country is sports, and for that matter football.

Whenever the Black Stars are in action, the political colours of all supporters are missing and we really see Project Ghana at work.

Those who see the display of nationalism during tournaments, be it the World Cup or AFCON, plead that we extend the same nationalism to the task of nation building.

The passion with which we follow the exploits of the Black Stars is unimaginable.

There are some Ghanaians who forego food because the national team has lost a match at a tournament. That show of support is common among the youth, whose love for sports is beyond anybody’s imagination.

But since the Brazil debacle in 2013 when, on the insistence of the Black Star players the government had to airlift $3 million to them before they would honour a match, the supporters’ love for the national team has diminished.

Some Ghanaians of this present generation recall with pain how about 30 years ago players of the Black Stars played for the love of the game and country.

They received no appearance fees, no bonuses, but they were just proud to be donning the national jersey.

Understandably, football has become business and some of the richest people on earth are footballers. So the leg has become a very precious part of the productive activity.

But we think the state must find a way to hold football administrators to account, so that the supporters who help the game of football to be interesting will have a say in the governance process.

The present regime facilitates the lack of transparency and accountability in the administration of the game of football.

Be that as it may, we are happy that Coach Avram Grant’s contract will not be renewed when it ends.

But the challenges of Ghana  soccer are not only with the coach; players, administrators and, indeed, politicians have all helped in bringing us to the present state where Ghana soccer is in a state of decline.

First, the process of constituting the GFA must be looked at again, and if we agree that familiarity breeds contempt, then the leadership must take a cue and those at the helm of affairs must learn to exit when the applause is loudest.

We spend money to run a local league and yet the players are not factored into the national team. Even when that is done, it becomes an afterthought or based on pressure from the public.

Foreign coaches are hired at a high cost, sidelining local expertise. In cases where local expertise is hired, he is given peanut as salary.

Ghana has talented footballers who are yearning to don the national jersey but we are not creating the opportunity for them to showcase their talents.

The Daily Graphic is convinced that any coach or football administrator who will try the blend of local and foreign players will be on the road to reviving Ghana soccer.

The present approach of constituting the Black Stars solely from foreign-based Ghanaian players, with a coach who stays in Europe to make a selection for tournaments, without sustained training sessions, can only produce the results that Grant got from his charges in the just-ended AFCON in Gabon.

The Daily Graphic thinks that a new broom is needed to sweep Ghana soccer of the misfits and bring on board  players and administrators who are prepared to die for Ghana and not necessarily because they will be paid appearance fees, bonuses and per diems.