Pappoe: Transparency required in selection of juvenile players

A former Vice-President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Fred Pappoe, has raised concerns over the current state of Ghanaian football and proposed a shift from the conventional reactive approach to a more comprehensive and proactive strategy in dealing with the myriad of problems facing the development of the sport.

He said there was a need for a thorough examination of the root causes of the challenges facing the senior national team, which had resulted in the decline of fortunes in recent years, instead of relying on quick-fix solutions that had proven unsuccessful.

Mr Pappoe told Graphic Sports that the traditional firefighting approach to resolving problems triggered by national outcry in the aftermath of the team’s poor performances in international competitions did not address the underlying issues; hence, his belief in a holistic appraisal to diagnose and address the problems to prevent their recurrence in the future.

He pointed to the youth football development system as a critical area that required immediate attention, questioning the transparency and fairness in the selection process for juvenile national teams (U-15, U-17 and U-20), and suggesting that access to power and authority had often influenced player call-ups over meritocracy.

"One important area, which we appear to be overlooking, is the whole area of our youth football development and the fairness of the system. How transparent are we in the call-up to our youth teams, in the U-15, U-17 and U-20?

“Are we calling up the best materials throughout the country in a very fair way, or are we just calling players who have access to power and authority?" Mr Pappoe, who was second-in-command at the FA from 2006 and 2010, asked.

He further criticised the inconsistent criteria for selecting players for the senior national team, the Black Stars, and advocated for clear-cut, standardised criteria that every player must meet before receiving an invitation.

The Chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee from 2005 to 2011, a period when the national team achieved success at the Africa Cup of Nations and two FIFA World Cup tournaments, Mr Pappoe, also emphasised the importance of ensuring truthfulness in the selection process for juvenile teams to ensure that the best pool of talents represented the nation at all times.

Ghana’s decline at the age-group level, he believes, has been partly due to personal interests and the growing influence of some influential football administrators in the selection process over the creation of a fair and competitive environment to scout the best talents available.

"We have to look at the playing body and the quality of players invited, the standards or criteria we use in calling the players and, more importantly, the consistency in the criteria," he stressed, highlighting the damaging effect of using different standards and principles for different players, which eventually undermined the overall effectiveness of the national team.

He further urged a thorough examination of the issues militating against the progress of Ghana football, having a deep understanding of the problems, and a commitment to finding tailored solutions for each issue.

The experienced football administrator believes it is important to select the best young talents for our juvenile teams because it is the feeder channel to our national team and if we get it wrong, the ripple effects are felt at the senior stage.