“The problem with winning the wooden spoon is you never end up getting presented with it but instead you find yourself exiting the tournament much earlier than anticipated in shame and disgrace!” Nana Kwaku Agyemang.
To say that the Ghana Black Stars had failed in their mission this time round could well be cited as the understatement of the 21st century. As having cumulated no points from a possible nine with an equally embarrassing goal tally of minus two so many questions are being posed about the quality of the Ghana Premier League the pedigree of our players and the nous of our local coaches in the first instance and then in the second instance the vision of the Ghana Football Association and the role of the Technical Directorate. Personally I don’t have the answers for all of those questions but I consider that my opinion is none the less an equally valid piece of the jigsaw puzzle. I have no doubt that there are significant lessons for us all to learn from such a disgraceful performance if only we can take the criticism in good faith are really willing to learn from our obvious mistakes.
Our psychotic euphoria over two Senior World Cup participation and performances and the subsequent victory in the U’20 World Cup which has since become a syndrome (PES) now has a bitter sweet taste. The Ghana Football Association coincidentally hoodwinked the rest of the world into believing that Ghana had a vibrant youth policy worthy of emulation by Football Associations worldwide but what observers really did not realise was that the 2006 Germany World Cup participation and 2010 South Africa World Cup quarter final berth in particular were merely fig leafs hiding the nakedness of an Football Association that had rode its luck too far without a saddle!
Indeed observing the activities on the ground the FIFA Goal Projects now in its third phase in Ghana and clearly out pacing its compatriots on the continent was also somehow seen as further indication that the Football Association is doing very well in the development of football in Ghana. Phase one saw the construction of the Ghana Football Association Head Quarters in Osu, a rather grotesquely ugly building poorly designed with appalling acoustics. Phase two was the construction of the Pram Pram “school of excellence” which is an equally ill designed building that only has two football pitch facilities that are just in a little bit better condition than the Ajax Park in Legon! Phase three of which there was the recent pomp and pageantry of a huge ceremony witnessed by twenty of the Heads of Football Associations on the continent will eventually see the construction of a 5 star hotel facility to accommodate all of the national teams complete with swimming pool, gymnasium and hopefully some decent football fields.
But in real terms there are no concrete infrastructural development plans on the table to boost football development and indeed the Ghana Premier League is lucky to have four stadiums to host Premier League matches and that is as a result of the legacy of being host of the African Nations Cup in 2008! The other League centres with the exception of the Len Clay Stadium which is a private facility are glorified parks which remain dangerous venues for players and spectators alike. Meanwhile the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Division Leagues have no choice but to utilise any stretch of land available to host their matches from dilapidated “stadiums” to school playing fields and bits and pieces of waste land with the shared usage of refuse dumping! Dare I say it but we need safe places to play and clubs need to be extensively equipped with more than just footballs, bibs and a few cones!
The numerous “flash” coaching courses certified by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in which it is claimed that over 2000 participants in less than five years have been extensively tutored on the rudiments of coaching not to mention Referee Courses; of which at the point of writing I don’t have the numbers to crunch; further serve to reinforce that point that all is well. The problem however, is that to this day we have yet to groom a single Coach suitable to take the reins of the Senior National Team the Ghana Black Stars and our Referees remain unofficially banned from participating in inter-continental and world competitions for a variety of reasons that border on reliance and competence! So the impact that these courses have on its participants might as well be considered as the minus two goal tally of the Ghana Black Stars in the ongoing CHAN!
Our defeat in the opening match to a non descript but well prepared and organised South Africa “development” team served notice that the wheels were about to come off our wagon, a defeat that the Head Coach described as a “blip!” at the time. Zimbabwe who may have political problems of a huge proportion that remain still unchallenged with the majority of the population not being able to buy a loaf of bread were still equally prepared and organised enough to display a compact game of fluid tactical and strategic attacking football even on their hungry bellies! And finally in a game that I am yet to see Niger (but am not sure if I even want to) put the final nail in our coffin and exposed the myth of football being in an advanced stage in Ghana with a one goal to nil victory!
Bearing all this in mind I will be the first to maintain that the Ghana Premier League is still improving season after season, but by force and not by design. I think we have to give some credit to everyone involved but in particular to the aspiring players who are poorly paid and dwell in rough and ready accommodation but give their all everyday at training and on match days despite surrendering themselves to being enthusiastically exploited which is another unique Ghanaian syndrome (EES). And so as the beat goes on the Ghana Premier League has no current sustenance through its sponsors as they have yet to pay for this season which is almost over and not to mention that they also still owe monies for the season gone by. What makes it worse is the fact that even though the contract has been irretrievably breached the Ghana Football Association has openly admitted that they are powerless to do anything about it as they have not secured any new interests or sponsors! Wow! I don’t think you can get a clearer admission of gross inefficiency any way you wish to view it, do you?
Nana Kwaku Agyemang is a UEFA B Licensed Coach, a Level 1 and 2 coaching educator and one of Ghana's most respected commentators and pundits.
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