Didi Dramani: Football DNA will give us unique identity

Black Stars’ Assistant Coach, Mas-Ud Didi Dramani, believes the ‘Ghana Football DNA’, launched by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) last week, would offer Ghana a unique identity and put its style of play into a proper perspective.

Last Wednesday, the GFA launched the Ghana Football Philosophy to identify how the national teams should play, the current trends in football, our strengths and weaknesses, as well as an implementation plan to help Ghana football reach where it wants to be.

Commenting on the document in an interview with Graphic Sports, Coach Dramani said he was elated by the FA’s decision to outdoor such a plan, insisting it would help document Ghana’s philosophy and identify a clear plan on which to follow to its destination.

The coach believed that it was a similar direction that was introduced by the late Ben Koufi when he was the FA president which helped the country to participate in the Olympic Games in 2004, which aided in unearthing talents such as Michael Essien.

“The late Ben Koufie instituted a clear direction, and this got us to the 2004 Olympic Games with Michael Essien and Co.

“This needs a comprehensive alignment to accept where we are as a nation and find a strong directional approach in creating success and a sustainable development mentality,” he noted.

The Right to Dream Academy (RtD) Technical Director and former FC Nordsjaelland of Denmark trainer was of the view that once the philosophy was implemented, it would define the identity of football culture of local clubs, insisting that the development of football must not be done in isolation.

“It is the platform for football cultures to be institutionalised in clubs with a clear identity, philosophy and various styles of play. Football is never developed in isolation. This is done with a holistic approach to all the four pillars — Administrative, Refereeing, Sports Science, Coaching - and especially establishing junior structures across the country and clubs,” he explained.

He emphasised that other countries such as Spain, Germany, Japan, and England and clubs like Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion had all adopted a philosophy which had been successful.

He, therefore, believed it was time for Ghana to “get the football industry to align and believe in the process”.

“The journey is a very long one, but it started several years ago. I’m happy it is now receiving a national outlook with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports, Youth and Culture being present at the launch.

“The approach needs to be comprehensively aligned for a deliberate, consistent and yet patient approach. Timelines are not as key as alignment of direction,” he explained further.

“We will need a collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES). Every meaningful young football player is either in an academy or in a complementary school system,” he added.

Coach Dramani also underlined the role of the media in ensuring the success of the programme.

“The media as a huge stakeholder has a great role to play in this establishment through aligning and follow-ups for feedback from all stakeholders, including coaches and administrators.