Executive Council member Nana Sarfo Oduro has called for government investment in football following the recent campaign promises made by presidential aspirants H.E. John Mahama and H.E. Dr. Mahamdu Bawumia.
Since the tragic elimination of the Black Stars from the 2023 Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations, there has been a public outcry for change in Ghanaian football. Now, let us be honest here. What is the major factor in this change? Investment!
Nana Sarfo Oduro shared his delight at the plans of the presidential aspirants, admitting Ghanaian football is lacking the funding or investment needed to propel the country to where it belongs in the world of football.
“We need investment in our football. I was very happy when John Mahama and Dr. Bawumia said in their campaign speeches about how they will effect changes in Ghanaian football should any of them be elected,” said Nana Oduro Sarfo in an interview with max.com.gh.
The current Vice President of the Republic of Ghana and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, unveiled his plans for sports during the address on his vision for Ghana.
He recognized the need for a conscious investment in Ghana’s sports sector.
“My government will therefore prioritize the creation of incentives for corporate sponsorship as a sustainable module of financing sports development and promotion for our national teams, including football, athletics, and boxing at all levels.”
Prior to the Vice President’s address, John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, outlined his plans, specifically for the Black Stars of Ghana, with a major focus on homegrown talents.
“We will build the new Black Stars based on homegrown players. Domestic players who have trained for a long time and play as a team. And then we bring the foreign ones to blend with them. If you bring the foreign players, they don’t play together because they play on their individual teams. The core should be local players who we will camp them. Keep camping them for a long time then when we are going, so when we are going for a tournament, we can bring some of the foreign players and we will have a better team,” said H.E. Mahama.
During the “GFA meets the press” session at the Lancaster Hotel in Kumasi on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the president of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Edwin Simeon Okraku, lamented the association’s struggles to secure adequate funding to promote Ghanaian football.
“Funding is a major challenge. Football is a capital-intensive endeavor. Despite our efforts to secure funding, it has not been adequate.
If given the opportunity, I would allocate one million dollars per season to each club in the Premier League, Women’s Premier League, or Division One League,” the Ghana FA boss said at a press session in Kumasi.
He therefore called for a “collective effort” in direct investment into the development of the sport, despite accepting blame for the recent poor exhibition of our game.
“We need the collective effort of all and sundry. We take responsibility as leaders of the association but will count on the collective ideas to continue to transform the sport.”
Ghana is a country with a mad love for football. The people live and die for football. The love for our various sporting clubs is deep and very emotional. In short, Ghanaians are emotionally invested in sports in general, and the demand for success is very high.
However, it must be acknowledged that the Ghana Football Association, nor could other associations of any sporting discipline, produce the desired results without adequate funding and investment in the development of our sports.
