It’s been close to a decade since the Black stars of Ghana were in touching distance of the Africa Cup of Nations trophy.
The plague of its elusion has ensued for over 40 years. Fast forward to the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast and the Black Stars looked a shadow of their former self.
The four-time African Champions have gone from being a powerhouse on the African continent, to a country that has suffered subsequent group stage exits at the Afcon.
As far as lows go, Ghana football has hit rock bottom and dealt another fatal blow to the hearts of many Ghanaians. But for how long? How long will abysmal performances at major tournament continue to plague the Black Stars?
In the aftermath of yet another disaster of a tournament, Ghanaians believe it is time for a change.
On Wednesday the 14th of February 2024, hundreds joined the “Save Ghana Football Demonstration” which was meant to exert pressure on the government, the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to find a lasting solution to the dwindling fortunes of football in Ghana.
The street protest, which started at 10 am in Accra, from the Obra Sport at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle ended at the Independence Square.
With placards reading things like “We must evaluate our football infrastructure,”
“Use World Cup revenue to develop football,” “Government must pay all national team coaches,” “Football is not only Black Stars.”
“Lack of facilities is killing our game,” “Go back to Ben Koffie development plan,” “Taxpayers are very worried.”
“Black Stars is not a cash avenue for GFA,” and “Abolish taxes on the importation of football products,” among other things, the participants expressed their concerns.
Some of the placards had: “Lack of vision for our football”, “Decline in our juvenile football”, “Grow our sports not your football clubs”, “We used to be Brazilians of Africa, what happened”, “Football is the soul of the nation, fix it”, “We are no longer a football nation”, “Only a deliberate policy can save us” and “Sacking coaches is not the panacea to our challenges.” Inscribed on them.
The conveners included Sports Journalists Saddick Adams, Patrick Osei-Agyeman, Veronica Commey, to mention a few. According to the conveners of the protest, the street protest, which was held to seek reforms in the governance of Ghana football, became necessary after the Black Stars poor performance and early exit from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations which was held in Cote d’Ivoire.
Sports Journalist, Veronica Commey, who is one of the conveners, joined TV3’s Warm Up Plus and detailed why she believes the protest was a step in the right direction and could be the catalyst to reshaping Ghana football.
“This problem we see is over forty years because in my lifetime we have never won an Afcon. And as we watched the trajectory, we realized that it is getting even worse and for us as stakeholders; we are football fans before journalists. We are all football people. And we know that it is important for us to let our voices be heard,” she said.
“The Black stars is our product and their success trickles down unto every other thing we see. So once the team did not do well in Ivory Coast, we noticed that people were unhappy and we thought that from 2019 to 2021 and now, it has even gotten worse, and it is about time we spoke and made our voices heard and make a big difference. Because I do think that we can make a difference and it is now. So that is why we came together as a group just to be the rallying point for the whole nation.”
She added that the people in charge of Ghana football need to take a step back to revise the policies that govern our football.
And ended her interview on Warm up Plus, by stating that the #SAVEGHANAFOOTBALL movement is far from over. Another protest is scheduled to take place on the 23rd of February in Kumasi.
The GFA has already been shaken up by the first demonstration, and with a second on the horizon, will the government, Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well as the Ghana Football Association hear the plea of Ghanaians?
By Emmanuel Andam || 3Sports || Ghana