Veteran football administrator, Fitzgerald Barkers Woode, known in football circles as Nana Fitz, has challenged the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to take immediate steps to address President John Mahama’s call for a renewed focus on grass-roots football development.
President Mahama, last week, urged the GFA to prioritise local football development by creating opportunities for home-grown players in the national teams and reviving the defunct Colts League.
“I do not know what happened to it, so I want to ask the Football Association: what has happened to the Colts League?” President Mahama said during a joint visit by Medeama SC, Nations FC and Ampem Darkoa Ladies FC last week.
Reacting to the President’s concerns in an interview with the Graphic Sports yesterday, Mr Woode called on the GFA to lay a strong foundation for grass-roots football by developing a three-year strategic development plan for Colts football.
The experienced administrator, who was once manager of boxing legend Azumah Nelson, said the current state of grass-roots football did not reflect claims by the GFA that significant progress had been made in that area.
“For the President to come out and complain about Colts football tells you that not much has been done in that area. But if you talk to the FA, they will tell you so much has been done, yet we can’t see the results,” he said.
The former Cornerstone boss, popularly known as Nana Fitz, said he was pleased that the President had recognised the decline in Colts football and urged the football authorities to take his concerns seriously.
He called on the current GFA administration to revisit the principles that once made the Colts system an important pathway for discovering and nurturing young football talents.
Mr Barkers Woode said a properly structured development plan would help restore the grass-roots system and ensure a steady supply of talented players to the domestic league and national teams.
President Mahama also expressed concern about the rapid exodus of promising Ghanaian players, arguing that the trend was depriving the local league of quality and experience.
