Ghana government to dissolve Black Stars?

Football (soccer) pundits in Ghana, Africa, and the globe are astonished by the abysmal performance depicted by the Black Stars in the just-ended AFCON 2025 qualifying series. Their exclusion from the 24 qualified nations to compete for laurels in Morocco next year has shocked many people because they did not see it coming. The fanatics in the West African country are now urging the government and stakeholders to take swift action and punitive measures to dissolve the national team and invigorate the ailing Ghana football from the ICU.

But can the government make such a decisive decision in an election year when Ghanaian electorates will go to the ballot on December 7, 2024, to elect a new president? For three consecutive eras, the Black Stars have performed terribly but no one has taken ownership to resign or add value to the team.

On the contrary, others don't think dissolution will be the best solution because Ghanaians want to qualify for the FIFA World Cup tournament, jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Certainly, the optimists have faith that the Black Stars can bounce back immediately if Ghana FA accepts their mistakes and rectifies them.

Since 2019, Ghana football (soccer) has been on the concavity slopes and the derivative functions are sharply decreasing. If the government fails to intervene to resolve the crises, youth unemployment will increase and social vices will go to the roof.

While football enthusiasts report that almost all the national teams are not performing, others allude government should inject money to give the Ghana Premier League (GPL) a face upliftment to prevent player exodus. More so, citizens want to know about specific criteria or models the Ghana Football Association (GFA) uses before hiring a coach and how players are invited to join the national team.

In Group F, where Ghana, Angola, Niger, and Sudan locked horns and played six games apiece, Black Stars couldn't win a single game. Depicting vigor and tenacity, Angola topped the group with 14 points, Sudan 8 points, Niger 7 points, and Ghana 3 points.

Of the 54 African countries, Ghana was the first to win the African Cup Trophies four times, in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982. In addition, between 1968 and 2015, Ghana played in the finals five times (1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, 2015) thus, why the dark path and plateauing lines? Having been overtaken by Egyp with 7 African Cup trophies, Cameroon with 5, and Nigeria and Ivory Coast winning 3 trophies each, Ghana FA should be strategic and visionary to add another silverware to Ghana's wardrobe closet.

Black Stars' dilemma is too perturbing because of the 18 optimized points at stake, the unpatriotic, abysmal, and lackadaisical attitudes of the players could not help the team to win any game and only earned 3 points. The last time Ghana couldn't qualify was 20 years ago (2004) and if someone had prophesied Ghana would not qualify after 20 years, football fans would not have believed it.

Mathematically, winning just 3 points out of 18 points means the Black Stars only got 16.67%, a grade of F. How did the team sink too low?

On the international scene, sports journalists are perplexed the GFA could not take a holistic approach to qualify Ghana. In the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa, sports anchors, on various radio and TV networks, including ESPN, were astonished by the strange conduct of GFA, the coach, and the players.

The international media that expressed concerns about the Black Stars' poor status include, but are not limited to, The New York Times (NYT), the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, and BBC, among others. "Ghana, you are an embarrassment. You have gone from bad to worse," said blogger Dean Ammi.

Ghanaians see football as a uniting sport that brings unity, peace, and love to the country. This is why Black Stars' failure to qualify for AFCON 2025 has led to brouhaha. Whereas the majority of Ghanaians are calling on the FA president to resign, others are urging the sports minister to exit himself. However, would the sports minister, GFA president, and the management committee own their shortcomings and accept that heads must roll?

Suggestions:

1. Ghana's government should intervene and write to FIFA for assistance.

2. All club owners should amend the FA regulations to prevent club owners from contesting to be elected GFA president. Ghana needs an independent person, someone football fans can attest to having a fair and impartial mind to be FA president and help set up a strong foundation and prudent policies for Ghana's football DNA.

3. The government should have a say in the hiring of FA president and GHALCA boss

4. Contracting or hiring a coach for the Black Stars should be published in various electronic and print media to allow qualified coaches equal opportunity to apply globally.

5. Professional football administrators who do not have clubs should be tasked to conduct interviews for Black Stars coaches; not insiders who have clubs in Ghana.

6. There should be checks and balances and clear regulations to guide all coaches.

7. Player invitations should be based on merits--quality, talent, experience, and skills, not whom you know syndrome. All qualified Ghanaian players should be given equal opportunity to justify their inclusion and help eradicate discrimination.

8. No player should be asked to pay a bribe to any football administrator or FA member before joining the national team.

9. Set up an independent grievances committee for the players to channel their woes for a quick mediation. This body should be tasked to investigate all bribery, corruption, and quid pro quo allegations.

10. Only players playing active football should be invited. Besides, the FA management committee should do the due diligence and ensure that all invited players deserve to play for the Black Stars.

11. The Parliamentary Committee on Sports should enact laws and advocate for the local league players to compel all Black Stars coaches to have at least 4-7 GPL players on the team at all times. The over-dependence of players playing in Europe should not be entertained because most of them arrogate themselves and are not patriotic enough. Why does the poor taxpayer pay them when they feign injuries with fake excuses and most often try to protect their legs for their foreign clubs at the expense of Africa, a continent that has made them who they are today?

If the Ghana government and the FA officials use the above-enumerated key points with visionary intent, good judgment, and good conscience, Ghana football will bounce back.

As an optimist, I'm hopeful and confident the Black Stars will bounce back in a grand style.