Nyantakyi’s FA has lost it!

Football may just be a game but it has on countless of occasions united us more than anything else could divide us. Even before the Black Stars’ meteoric rise to global recognition on the account of an impressive back-to-back World Cup appearances, we still enjoyed our football as we would of an ice-cold palm wine.

Ghana’s two glamorous clubs, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko have one of the world’s bitterest rivalry. It’s always more of a bragging right at stake than a trophy or three points. In recent years however, the rivalry somehow has waned a little partly due to the loss of interest in the Ghanaian league.

Although Kwesi Nyantakyi may be credited as the GFA President who succeeded in taking the Black Stars to its first ever World Cup, I must say his record as far as developing the game domestically is absolutely pathetic, to be charitable.

I have always heard the chorus of people calling for his head over the way he has superintendent the decay of the Ghanaian Premier League. I didn’t think I will join that cause till I found myself watching Ghana’s version of the El-Classico, Hearts playing Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium.

About three days to the game, I bought an advanced ticket to the game with the hope of avoiding long queues at the stadium come the match day. Hell wrong I was. Having arrived at the venue with my VIP ticket about an hour to the game, I had to fight my way into the stadium.

Eventually, I entered the precincts of the stadium 20 or so minutes into the game. I am not really sure because the scoreboard at the Accra Sports Stadium has for obvious reason of neglect become a white elephant. I know there’s a lot of buck passing between the GFA and the National Sports Authority when it comes to this issue.

Those two bodies should get their acts together, what is really important now is fixing the scoreboard. At the gates, there were thousands of people who couldn’t enter and hence had to leave or sell their ticket to those willing to bulldoze their way through.

Imagine struggling to sweat your way through and being told at the turnstiles that the ticket you bought was a fake one. Yeah. It happened to countless of people who according to them purchased their tickets at some designated spots.

Even with my Upper VIP ticket, I couldn’t get a seat so I had to do “popular stand” at the lower VIP area. So who were those seated? Did they have tickets at all, or is it the case that the tickets were overprinted? There are too many questions than answers.

The last thing I want the FA to be doing now to all the litany of issues I have raised is to pass the buck that is to tell me what and what is within their domain and what is not. Anything good that comes to Ghana football we are told to sing the praise of a certain man over there. And what about the bad, we must swallow that abi?

I know I am ranting because this is the first time I have witnessed the “super clash” and frankly those who have done that over the years may be familiar with some of these so-called standards. Well I have news for those who think what happened to me was normal.

The Ghana Premier League, as shambolic as it is, is still shown on TV unlike the past where you need to be at the stadium to watch your favorite team. I could have watched it from the comfort of my home but I decided to patronise it because that’s the only way I could contribute to the club I have idolised.

But happenings like these are not good advertisement for our local league. Everything was in shambles, from where I stood. Inasmuch some of the security personnel detailed on the day went about their duties professionally, it is worth noting that some of them became more spectators than some of us.

The National Sports Authority together with football administrators must get serious about the game development. Football in Ghana is not synonymous to Black Stars. Due to neglect, our clubs performance in the continental competition has slump quite badly.

Despite all the mishaps that happened on the day of the match, the stadium was full to capacity. One interesting thing was that the match coincided with the Manchester derby. Yet those thousands of soccer lovers defied what could have genuinely provided a great football entertainment to be at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Kwesi Nyantakyi and his team must wake up and smell the coffee. The local league is all we have. We don’t need to draw plans. We have more than enough of them. Let’s implement the ones we have. The development of grassroots football is essential to the overall development of the game.

Perhaps my expectations were too high but I don’t think I was impressed with the quality of play in the Heart-Kotoko game. Having seen some previous great Kotoko sides and that of Hearts, I don’t know whether our game is growing or retrogressing.

The GFA won’t lose anything developing colts’ or juvenile football. It may be an expensive venture but it will be worth our while. As it stands now, our clubs don’t have the wherewithal to import quality players from other neighbouring countries. Our only option is therefore to develop these players. As we strengthen our league with quality players, the Black Stars and the other national teams stand to benefit.

The GFA should have rode on the back of a successful hosting of the 2008 African Cup of Nations to greater heights. But it seems everyone went to sleep after that. The training pitches constructed for the tourney have all wasted into oblivion. The stadia themselves, particularly the Accra Sports Stadium, is an eyesore and must be closed down with immediate effect.

Its structural defects are too visible. To think that someone sanctioned that football be played there is a decision of the highest incompetence order. Every aspect of the stadium is not fit for such huge gathering of people. I hate to think that we are expecting a disaster to occur before we come to our senses.

There are too many things wrong with Ghana football. Kwesi Nyantaky and his FA must not hide behind the moderate success of the Black Stars to deceive us into thinking that all is well. We are tired and we need a revolution.

Our elders say water stored in bottle for a long time will eventually develop a foul smell. Kwesi Nyantakyi over to you!
I’m out!


Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com
The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).