Before the Black Stars of Ghana won their fourth AFCON trophy in 1982 in Libya, Egypt had only won the title twice whereas Cameroon were yet to taste their first ever continental glory. However, both the Pharaohs and Indomitable Lions have gone past Ghana winning the AFCON trophy seven and five times respectively whereas the Black Stars have failed to win the title for 42 years. Ghana used to be a great soccer nation on the African continent. Players such as Golden Boy Abdul Razak, Malik Jabir, Akwasi Owusu, Dan Owusu, Mohammed Polo, Abedi Pele and until recently Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien, and Sulley Muntari thrilled the whole continent and beyond with their exhilarating skills. For the past 32 years, Ghana has been at the AFCON grand-finale thrice. In 1992 and 2015 the Black Stars lost to Cote d'Ivoire after a marathon of penalty shootout whereas in 2010 they were pipped 1-0 by Egypt in Angola. ALSO READ: AFCON 2023: Kudus admits there is pressure in playing for Black Stars The past half-decade has been a very poor one as far as Ghana's output is concerned. The team was bundled out in the round of 16 of the 2019 AFCON in Egypt by Tunisia whereas in 2021 in Cameroon, it recorded its worst AFCON record by failing to win a single game in its group. Ghanaians were deceived after the country qualified for the 2022 World Cup at the expense of Nigeria on away goals’ rule. Ghana has always been a bogey side for Nigeria and qualifying ahead of them was no news, yet football administrators and press men on the pay roll of the Ghana Football Association threw dust into the eyes of the people to believe the team is good. Well, we all saw what happened in Qatar. What is the problem with the Black Stars? Ghana's football problems might even be bigger than the titanic ship. They cut across both the administrative and tactical fields. On the administrative side, people believe incumbent Ghana Football Association President, Kurt Okraku's second term of office had some anomalies as he went unopposed in September 2023. Main challenger George Akwasi Afriyie was strangely disqualified for a supposed ineligible signature on his endorsement form though he had a genuine case per the rules of the football association. He dragged the GFA to court just like veteran football administrator Alhaji Karim Gruzah did. There was an injunction placed on the GFA election by the High Court of Ghana but the GFA went on to organise the election of which Kurt Okraku went unopposed. No one from the electoral commission supervised the election. With this, many people lost hope in the current GFA. This was coupled with the fact that during the current administration, the performance of the Black Stars has sunk so low. Again, there are so many rented press men around the GFA who are on the pay roll of the association. They tend to attack and insult everyone who criticises the team on social media and radio. They even send text messages to people who openly criticise how Ghanaian football especially the Black Stars is being run. Moreover, there are so many people around the team who openly beat and intimidate journalists and prevent them from doing their work. One Aziz, a security man employed by the GFA to guide the team has openly assaulted journalists in Black Stars games. He beat a Ghanaian sport journalist Seidu Adamu during Ghana's 4-0 friendly game defeat to USA in Carolina, USA in September 2023. All this doesn't go well for the image of the team. There have also been reported cases of alleged nepotism as an underground soccer agency determines which players who should be called into the national team of Ghana. On the field of play, in five years, Ghana has changed five coaches. There is not any systematic pattern of play. The current coach of the Black Stars, Chris Hughton was not the favourite for the job. The team manager of the Black Stars, Ameenu Shardow and Executive Committee member George Amoako have all come out to publicly say that the coach was not the choice of the FA. Hughton, a former coach of Tottenham and Brighton in the English Premier League was brought in by Gabby Asare Okyere Darko, a politician and a cousin of the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo. You cannot fault him for bringing Hughton. This is not the first time that such practices have been reported in Ghanaian football. For example, previous coaches of the Black Stars such as CK Akonnor have come out to say that players were being imposed on them by members of the top hierarchy of the football association. On the field of play, the current Ghanaian squad may not have the quality that former players such as Abedi, Gyan, Essien, Muntari, Appiah and others possessed but they have the tendency to perform if the right things are done. After all, Ghana paraded a make-shift team for the 2010 and 2015 AFCON but with good planning and good vibes around the team, they reached the finals. Many things have to change concerning the Black Stars because Ghanaians have lost hope in the football administration, coaches and the team in general. On Sunday, January 14, the poor output continued as Ghana lost 2-1 to Cape Verde in Group B of the 2024 AFCON. The open secret is that unless Ghana lift up their game tremendously, it will be very difficult for the team to go beyond the Group stage. This is the time to face reality, Ghanaian football is now dead. The future has overtaken the country and it is about time people stop bragging about the trophies won over 42 years ago.
