Diagnosing the problem of the Ghana Black Stars Football Team

1. The problem of the Ghana Black Stars and other national teams is that we simply don’t have top quality players who are playing consistent and good football in top teams and top leagues anywhere in the world to be called up to the national teams. The shambolic and abysmal performances of our Black Stars and their early exit from the ongoing #AFCON2021 in Cameroon should teach us a lesson that we have a useless team with players playing in all kinds of useless clubs and useless leagues across the world.

2. Our local league #GhanaPremierLeague, local clubs’ performances in African club competitions, and all our national teams are suffering because the country or Ghana Football Association (GFA) doesn’t have a national policy or standard criteria for calling up players into our national teams especially the Black Stars.

3. My solution to the problem of lack of quality players to the national teams is that the Ghana Football Association (GFA)should have the following national policy or standard criteria for calling up players into all our national teams especially the Black Stars purely based on current performances/form and the type of leagues they are playing in.

A. Only players playing regular football (getting adequate playing time) in the Top 7 ranked European leagues (English #PL, Spanish #LaLiga, Italian #SerieA, German #Bundesliga, French #Ligue1, Portuguese #PremieraLiga or Dutch #Eredivisie) will be called up to the national teams especially the Black Stars; or

B. Only players playing regularly in the Top 5 ranked leagues in Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria or South Africa) will be called up to the national teams especially the Black Stars; or

C. Only players playing regularly in the #GhanaPremierLeague will be called up to the national teams especially the Black Stars.

D. Only players who have played for at least three (3) consistent years in the #GhanaPremierLeague can be transferred or sold to clubs outside the country.

E. Only the national teams coaches should be allowed to select players for the national teams following the above national policy without interference from any GFA officials or Ministry of Youth and Sports.

4. If the above policy is adopted and adhered to by all our national team coaches, our local players will not accept peanuts or small money and travel to all kinds of countries to play their professional football out there.

5. Our local players who don’t get to play in the above Top 7 European leagues or the Top 5 leagues in Africa will at least stay in Ghana and play in the #GhanaPremierLeague. This will ultimately help to strengthen our league with top quality players and improve upon the quality and competitiveness of our local league.

6. Those quality players who stay and play in the #GhanaPremierLeague will also strengthen our local clubs to compete for the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League & Confederation Cup trophies.

7. Our local clubs, such as Kotoko, Hearts of Oak and other clubs are struggling yearly to get to the group stages of those two #CAF competitions. They are unable to compete because all their best players leave the shores of the country for greener pastures after every league season to play in all kinds of useless leagues like the Division 3 in Germany, Qatar, China, USA, Kuwait, and Tanzania.

8. These local players leave Ghana because they want money or they have this impression that once they are playing for clubs outside Ghana, they will be called “professional players” and will be called up to the national teams especially the Black Stars irrespective of their shambolic and abysmal performances at their various clubs and leagues.

9. Until our country or the GFA adopt a national policy or standard criteria for calling up players into the national teams, Ghana football is not going anywhere. The #BringBackTheLove campaign will turn into #BringBackTheHate.

I rest my case

#AFCON
#GhanaBlackStars
#BlackStars
#GFA

By Emmanuel Abankwah