Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi’s questionable strategy

It’s a pity that Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi has joined the ranks  of public officials who don’t find it fit to apologise for their unguarded comments – even at the risk of tarnishing their reputation.  

That Mr Nyantekyi has not been subjected to more censure and ridicule for his questionable “sexy ladies” strategy to boost attendance at football matches is probably due to the magnitude of the unfolding judiciary corruption drama in the country.

Clearly, the bombshell by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, reportedly backed by video evidence that some judges, magistrates and other judiciary staff are ‘on the take’, has eclipsed all other current public discussions.

The GFA President was reported in the media recently to have expressed his belief in increasing spectator numbers at local league matches, by getting beautiful girls to parade at the venues. 

He reportedly said on a radio station: “Me, I have said this thing over and over again, we must let sexy ladies enter our stadia and the men will readily follow them ... Most of these men when they hear that beautiful girls are coming to the stadium today, they will all jump and follow them to the stadium ... and they are going there purposely to see the ladies.”

Mr Nyantakyi continued: “I remember there was one match we brought some beautiful girls who were in nice jeans to the stadium and the girls started walking around the stadium and come and see the hysteria it created in the stands ... And so we must try and use all these tricks to boost attendance at the stadium.”  

Nevertheless, not even the Anas judiciary exposé could totally hide the Nyantakyi shocking  remarks from the gender sensitivity monitors, as demonstrated by a caustic response from Tamale reported in the Daily Graphic of last Friday, September 11. Gender activist Paulina Tangoba Abayage told the paper in the Northern regional capital that the comments were “an insult to the dignity of Ghanaian women.

“It is highly inappropriate for him to have said that,” she noted, adding, “in this country we tend to focus (more) on sexual attributes of women than their talents ....

“If Mr Nyantakyi is saying that inviting women to the stadium will attract spectators, what happens after the invitation?”

Ms Abayage observed that most of the stadia are not kept clean. “If your stadium smells no person in his or her right senses will come and sit there to watch games.

“The GFA should be investing in professionalism. They should invest in players so that people will enjoy the Ghanaian leagues,” she advised.

I applaud Ms Abayage for her incisive response, notably her perceptive question: “what happens after the invitation?”

Furthermore, does Mr Nyantakyi have daughters? If he does, is this a role he wants for his daughters – or other female relatives – that they should be invited to football matches, presumably in sexy jeans, not as fans who enjoy the sport, but only as attendance enticements?   

Perhaps if he had made the comment on the spur of the moment, one could excuse it. However, his own words prove that the view he expressed was not an impulsive one: “I have said this thing over and over again”. More disappointingly, in these days of gender awareness, there has been no apology from him.

I guess it was frustration that led Mr Nyantakyi to his outrageous position. But has he investigated WHY fans no longer find the local league attractive? Anyway, as Ms Abayage is suggesting, has it perhaps got something to do with the unappealing environment at the stadiums?

A couple of weeks ago, a Ghanaian Times report described even the country’s premier sports venue, the Accra Sports Stadium, as “a death trap ....structures fast deteriorating.”

“(It’s) ....a disaster waiting to happen.... the decay also stretches to the Presidential Stand, the roofing of which is a blot on the stadium’s landscape ....” the August 4 report stated.

Prior to that, last October, former world boxing champion, ‘Professor’ Azumah Nelson was widely reported to have said he wanted his name withdrawn from the Kaneshie Sports Complex named after him. Was the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex not hosting football matches, too? Why has it been allowed to fall into such disrepair that The Professor wanted to distance his name from it?

Possibly, Mr Nelson took a cue from the scornful views expressed by the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Ghana’s participation in the 2014 World Cup fiasco, Mr. Justice S. Dzamefe. He reportedly said that if he were Nelson he would have asked that his name be removed from the complex:

“The man is a world champion so you can imagine (it) if someone travels all the way from abroad to come and visit (what) we call Azumah Nelson Complex and he sees that thing over there ....”

Justice Dzamefe added: “Go to Prampram (to) the Soccer School of Excellence ... Even the taps was not flowing ... players have to fetch water and yet we call it ‘Excellence’ .... And have a look at the state of the pitch that the players train on ....”

So, the pointer is that it’s not a “sexy ladies” remedy that will revive interest in the local league. As the above two examples indicate, Mr. Nyantakyi needs a comprehensive assessment of the problem, to look closer home, starting with the environment at the football facilities.

In the meantime, I think he owes an unequivocal apology to the women of Ghana, as well as parents teaching their female children and wards to aim as high as intellectually possible and not allow themselves to be seen as sex objects.