Black Queens deserve a golden handshake!
Every worker deserves his or her reward, so says the Good Book. One of the big and enviable achievements often recorded at important games in the world is the winning of a soccer gold medal, either for men or women.
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To some countries, let all medals pass to all competitors, but that of a soccer gold is not a thing to play with. The All Africa Games are no exception. Victory in the game of soccer receives one of the biggest applause.
Therefore, when the 11th All Africa Games came to a close at the new Kintele Stadium in Brazzaville last Saturday night with three Nigerian power lifters not only breaking the African record, but the world mark as well, you could imagine what the critics might say about the modest two gold, seven silver and nine bronze won by the large contingent that represented this enviable Coast of Gold. Of course, what the pundits were fast in asking was who won the soccer gold.
As the games reached its final bend with the Black Queens coming face to face with African giants like South Africa, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroun, one had to be wary of the prediction of the ultimate winners of the golden fleece. Earlier in the men's soccer, the Black Mateors, who won the last Games' gold in Maputo, Mozambique, four years ago, were already out at the group stage and were complaining of inadequate preparation. All attention went to the Black Queens.
The first to fall out were South Africa's Banyana Banyana who had two points and two goals appiece with the Queens and the Games officials had to draw lots to decide who played in the semi-finals against Cote d'Ivoire. Analysts saw the great battle as one of the best bets to win the gold, and the Queens did it.
The Camerounian Indomitable Lionnesses overrun the Nigerians, and the final fell at the feet of the Black Queens and the Lionesses who had been described as the favourites, looking at their physique and smartness on the ball. Incidentally, the Queens had earlier drawn with their counterparts four times, with the Lionesses taking advantage of an away draw to qualify for the all-important Rio Olympic Games slated for Brazil in 2016.
As fate would have it, the ultimate prize went to the Queens who played a great game to beat the Camerounians by a lone goal.
What reward were the Queens expecting, and how were they treated, as against their male counterparts who recently won a match against Mauritius in an African tournament qualifiers and were treated like kings much against the recommendations by the Dzamefe Commission of Inquiry? Of course, they were not expecting anything close to that of their male counterparts, but at least a handsome reward was expected from the sector Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr Mustapha Ahmed.
The chairperson of the Black Queens Management Committee, Leanier Addy, came out plainly to state that the players deserved something bigger than the $2,000, and that their refusal to accept the peanut was worthwhile.
It was expected that before leaving camp for their individual homes, the impasse should be resolved. According to the Queens, it was unfair since in the two previous games they received $3,000 each as bonus.
Even though they were obviously happy for their achievement, they were disappointed about the poor treatment meted out to them. Miss Addy added her voice that the female team had not been treated like queens as their name suggested and that the expectation was that the Minister would quickly satisfy them.
Much as the All Africa Games are supposed to settle the ‘who is who’ in Africa debate, the end result did not actually give account for Team Ghana as the medal table suggested that there was much left to be desired. For instance, as at last Wednesday morning, when the Egyptian team were leading with over 56 gold medals, and the Tunisians were following with 37 gold and several lower medals, and our nearest English-speaking neighbours, Nigeria, were flying with over 16 gold medals and several lower ones, Team Ghana had not won a single gold medal and could boast of only one silver and two bronze.
It must be noted that much as the nation did not treat the recent Games with much seriousness, there was no way a large contingent of over 300 had to be sent, especially as the teams did not have enough training in and out of the country to test their individual and team abilities. People had to attain certain standards to be ready to challenge their counterparts on the continent before saying goodbye to their countrymen.
Maybe this must be another lesson which would be recorded as an emphatic overall failure. Those events that have not been tried and tested will need to back up to deserve a better trial at future games.
It is not right downgrading the nation at such important games next time. God bless!