Sports
Developing sports with manifestoes
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Ghana must at least be at the apex of football, globally in the next decade or so, if manifestoes of the two major political parties in Ghana are anything to go by.
The elections are a little over four months away and expectedly, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) are making a lot of promises to solve problems in the sports sector that have existed for ages.
Clearly, some of these problems have just been ignored even when the two parties were in power and in good positions to address them.
The fact that solutions are now being proffered from left, right to centre suggests how important the quest to wield power is to a politician.
DrMahamuduBawumia, Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), kick-started the football played in manifestoes with the announcement to establish a Sports Development Fund to develop young talents when elected to office on December 7.
At the party’smanifesto launch at the Ghana Secondary Technical School in Takoradi, he explained how the fund would develop sports infrastructure, talents, and grassroots sports programmes, including the revival of colts football and leagues across the country.
A government under DrBawumia is also expectedto upgrade the surfaces of the football pitches in Kumasi, Accra, Cape Coast, Legon, Tamale and Essipun to meet international standards.
The NPP will also build six 5,000-seater capacity stadiums for the new regions and provide busesfor Premier League Clubs.
DrBawumia would also supervise the establishment of a Ghana School Sports Secretariat to create more opportunities for young people in sports and collaborate with international sports bodies like the NBA and NFL to make Ghana a hub for emerging sports in Africa.
He would also start an “Operation Olympics Glory” programme by dedicating resources towards the preparation and readiness of athletes towards the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.
Few days later, NDC responded in an acrobatic style as its candidate, John DramaniMahama, pledged to undertake emergency refurbishment of pitches at the various national stadiums if it wins power in the December 7 elections.
“We’ll pursue our long-standing policy of establishing international standard stadia in all regions, build more multi-purpose sports facilities to promote regional sporting events and inter-school competition as part of our talent development policy.”
The manifesto also revealed the party’s intentions to augment the salaries of all registered footballers with additional allowances.
“We would ensure equitable investments in other national teams, such as women’s football teams, parasports teams, juvenile teams, and lesser-known sports.
“We would upgrade the UEW Sports College into a modern sports university training programmes in sports, related medicine, science, and sports management/administration at campuses around Ghana.”
These pledges may come as greatand mouthwatering news for the ‘football people’because they are geared more towards football.
It, however, leaves question marks over what would be done to bridge the huge gap between football and other sports.
Bostwana has become a model sports nation for Africa in recent times following the exploits of Lestile Tebogo at the just ended Olympic Games held in Paris.
The young athlete silenced the American and Jamaican sprinters at the showpiece, a feat he repeated at the 2024 Diamond League.
A tiny Island like St. Lucia had an athlete on the podium following an excellent performance from Julian Alfred in the female sprints.
These were gains from proper investments in sports over the years and not just football.
Upgrading our pitches, making available more playing centres, improving the league and the many others outlined by the NPP and NDC are laudable, but Ghana would be worse off if the over concentration on football does not change.
By Andrew Nortey
The Black Queens kick off their 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations journey on Wednesday, July 29, when they take on Cape Verde in their Group C opener in Morocco.
Coach Kim Lars Björkegren and his team go into the match full of confidence after weeks of intensive preparations.
The Queens held a successful pre-tournament training camp and played friendly matches to fine-tune ahead of the competition.
With morale high, Ghana’s senior women’s team will be targeting maximum points to get their campaign off to the perfect start.
The match is set for 5:00 PM GMT at the Moulay Rachid Stadium.
Football fans across Ghana will be watching closely, hoping the Queens can secure a positive result and lay the foundation for a memorable WAFCON 2026 run.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
With the World Cup fever gradually dying down, attention would switch to other equally important competitions from now to the latter parts of the year.
Barely a week after the global football showpiece that saw Spain upstaged Argentina as World Champions, over 70 countries gathered in Glasgow, Scotland for the Commonwealth Games that is attracting hundreds of athletes from the Commonwealth community.
Equally, 16 top female national teams in Africa would commence competition for the bragging rights as African champions when the delayed Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2026 kicks off in Morocco tomorrow.
The Super Falcons of Nigeria are usually considered favourites for this showpiece, having shown the strength and character to dominate the game on the continent.
As defending champions, they come in strongly again, expected to face a more difficult sides like the Black Queens of Ghana, Zambia and Morocco who have been touted as possible teams to cause an upset.
Of the 16 qualified teams, nine featured at the previous edition held in 2024.
Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tunisia, who qualified in 2024, missed out this time, while Cape Verde and Malawi will make their first appearance in the tournament.
Today, The Spectator Sports takes a look at some of the teams expected to rub shoulders with the big guns in the female game.
Cameroon
After missing the previous edition, Cameroon returns to the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 determined to re-establish themselves among Africa’s elite.
The Indomitable Lionesses, one of the continent’s most successful women’s national teams, secured a place at the expanded 16-team tournament after receiving a second chance through CAF’s revised qualification system.
Now, under newly appointed head coach Valentine Nguele and inspired by emerging midfield star Naomi Eto, Cameroon will be aiming not only to reclaim their place among Africa’s leading nations but also to secure qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Cameroon boasts one of the richest histories in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The Indomitable Lionesses have reached the final on three occasions—in 2004, 2014 and 2016—but are still searching for their first continental title.
Their consistency has also been reflected in three third-place finishes in 2002, 2012 and 2018, giving Cameroon six podium finishes overall.
Only Nigeria and South Africa have accumulated more top-three finishes in the history of the competition, underlining Cameroon’s long-standing status among Africa’s leading women’s football nations.
Zambia
After finishing third in 2022 and falling short of expectations at the 2024 edition, Zambia head to the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026 determined to establish themselves among Africa’s elite.
With one of the continent’s most feared attacking units and new head coach Nora Häuptle at the helm, the Copper Queens will be aiming to lift the Women’s AFCON trophy for the first time.
Barbra Banda remains one of the biggest names in African women’s football.
The Orlando Pride striker has established herself among the leading forwards in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and returns to international competition after recovering from a hip injury suffered late last year.
Powerful, direct and clinical in front of goal, Banda will once again spearhead Zambia’s attack as the Copper Queens pursue their first continental title.
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (Stallions Ladies) return to the competition determined to make history after missing the 2024 edition. Encouraged by an impressive qualifying campaign, the Stallions Ladies head to Morocco aiming to progress beyond the group stage for the first time.
Burkina Faso secured qualification with convincing victories over Burundi and Togo.
The Stallions Ladies defeated Burundi 5-1 on aggregate, following a commanding 4-1 first-leg victory before completing the job with a 1-0 win in the return fixture.
They carried that momentum into the final qualifying round against Togo, winning 2-0 in the first leg before sealing qualification with another 1-0 victory to complete a 3-0 aggregate success.
Nigeria
Reigning champions Nigerias head to Morocco 2026 looking to extend their remarkable record in the competition. With 10 continental titles to their name, the Super Falcons remain the most successful team in the tournament’s history..
Led by Captain Rasheedat Ajibade and head coach Justine Madugu, Nigeria once again begin the competition among the favourites.
Nigeria secured qualification to Morocco 2026 by defeating Benin 3-1 on aggregate in the second round of qualifying.
Having received a bye in the opening round, the Super Falcons took control of the tie with a 2-0 away victory in Cotonou.
They completed the job in Abeokuta, drawing 1-1 in the second leg after Ashleigh Plumptre opened the scoring before Benin equalised through Yasmine Djibril.
The result ensured another successful qualification campaign for the reigning African champions.
Cote d’Ivoire
After a 12-year absence from Africa’s biggest women’s football competition, Côte d’Ivoire returns to the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations aiming to re-establish themselves among the continent’s leading nations.
The Elephants secured an unexpected route back to the finals following the expansion of the tournament from 12 to 16 teams.
Now guided by experienced French coach Reynald Pedros and inspired by prolific striker Habibou Ouedraogo, Côte d’Ivoire believe they have the talent to challenge Africa’s established powers once again.
The Elephants were knocked out in the final qualifying round after a fiercely contested tie against Senegal. Neither side managed to score across the two legs, with Senegal eventually prevailing 5-4 on penalties to deny the Ivorians automatic qualification.
Following the expansion of the Women’s AFCON from 12 to 16 participating teams, CAF allocated the additional places based on the FIFA Women’s World Ranking.
⚽ Group A: Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Kenya,
⚽ Group B: South Africa, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Tanzania
⚽ Group C: Nigeria, Zambia, Egypt, Malawi
⚽ Group D: Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, Cape Verde
By Andrew Nortey
