Story By: Ahashie Judeliver Eli
Flagbearer of the NDC and former-President, John Dramani Mahama has suggested a strategy to rejuvenate football in Ghana after the disappointing performance of the Black Stars at AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast.
Ghana failed to secure a single victory during the tournament, leading to the dismissal of coach Chris Hughton and the dissolution of the technical team.
Mahama, who is also the NDC flagbearer for the upcoming 2024 General Elections, intends to collaborate with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to create a robust national team.
He believes that developing homegrown talent is key to achieving success.
“We just came from the Africa Cup of Nations and we performed abysmally and disastrously,” Mahama said.
“We performed abysmally because we are not growing our football.”
“We need to start catching them young, training them, and giving them to local teams to gain experience before they travel abroad.”
Mahama’s vision involves creating a balanced team comprising homegrown players and foreign-based players. He stressed that the core of the Black Stars must consist of domestic players who have trained together for an extended period.
“Domestic players who have trained together for a long time and work as a team, and then we will bring the foreign players to come and blend with them,” Mahama explained.
“If you bring only foreign players, they don’t play together and play in their individual teams, and then when it’s time for competition, and tell them to come and play, it won’t work.”
To achieve this goal, Mahama plans to overhaul Ghana’s football in partnership with the GFA. He believes that building a solid national team requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders.
Currently, the GFA is in search of a new coach.