In Ghana’s political landscape, any narrative of a candidate desirous of serving a third term is abhorred by many.

This is reflected at the various levels of politicking; be it mainstream politics, old students unions, social groups, church groupings and many others.

The sports industry is also not spared either.

Since the overthrow of the era of appointments, leaders of federations-who are referred to as presidents- have had to go through rigorous processes leading to an Elective Congress where delegates, made up of key stakeholders, vote for their choice of person to lead.

In the over 50 sports federations under the National Sports Authority (NSA), this process has become common and has no doubt ensured some level of stability in their operations.

That has become acceptable among the delegates and the international federations they are affiliated to. Anyone who grabs power via a different route would surely lose that cooperation and goodwill the federation enjoys from the parent bodies.

And, across their legal documents that guides their operations, the period or term of office are clearly spelt out.

Candidates or presidents are expected to serve for maximum two terms of four years each. It is very consistent with Ghana’s constitution which requires a sitting president to serve for the same period.

There is no ambiguity about that.

But the Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) is set to experience something different later this year as it braces for an Elective Congress.

Just as its current president, Mr Frederick Lartey Otu, prepares to exit after serving two terms, he has been forced into a tight corner where he must consider an appeal to serve another term as president of the GTF.

Considering his passion and dedication for the sport, a request by majority of stakeholders to go for an additional term should be one the astute administrator must grab with both hands, at least to cement his legacy and take the sport to the level he dreamt of.

At a Leadership Retreat of the GTF a few weeks ago, a National Board Member and Upper West Regional Chairman of the GTF, Mr Kankpenuba Peter Nuntaa Wisdom, stirred the hornet’s nest, appealing to other Regional Chairmen and other officers to give the incumbent another term.

“I, as a National Board Member and Regional Chairman of the Ghana Taekwondo Federation, together with concerned stakeholders and supporters of Taekwondo in Ghana, humbly submit this petition to respectfully call on our able and dedicated President, Frederick Lartey Otu, to reconsider his decision and stand for re-election as President of the Federation,” he stated.

And his reason was that, “Over the years, Mr Otu has demonstrated visionary leadership, resilience, and personal sacrifice in advancing Taekwondo in Ghana. His contributions have positioned Ghana as a strong and respected force in both African and global Taekwondo.”

“It is important to acknowledge that his first termin office was heavily burdened by legal disputes and other structural challenges, which did not allow for smooth operations and full realisation of his vision. Despite these setbacks, he remained steadfast and committed to the growth of the Federation.

Now, in his second term, the Federation is beginning to witness the true fruits of his leadership, with stability, growth, and international recognition steadily improving.”

And as he rightly put it, “there is no better or more experienced person, at this critical stage, to consolidate these gains. In my considered view, there is currently no perfect replacement capable of sustaining the momentum he has built.”

On the legal ramification of the gesture, Mr Kankpenuba explained that, “It is also important to respectfully state that the Constitution of the Ghana Taekwondo Federation permits a President to contest for a further term in office, in accordance with its provisions on tenure and re-election.”

The call may be well placed considering the GTF’s gains under the current administration.

To strengthen capacity building and technical development, he caused the introduction of the National Coaches Licence Course to professionalise coaching in Ghana, National Referees Licence Course to create a structured pathway for referees and facilitated participation of athletes and coaches in international training programmes and secured an IOC scholarship for Miss Henrietta Armah towards the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

Pioneering Para Taekwondo in Ghana, Mr Otu’s administration successfully introduced Para Taekwondo in Ghana, led Ghana to win its first medal at the World Para Taekwondo Championships in Moscow and produced Ghana’s first Paralympian for the 2024 Paralympic Games in France.

He also gave Ghana a competitive edge on the international stage by winning Ghana’s first Gold Medal at the World Korean Ambassador’s Championships in Korea and introduced Poomsae and Mixed Team Kyorugi at the 13th African Games in Accra.

And to ensure good governance and inclusivity, his term witnessed the amendment of the GTF Constitution to include Regional Associations in decision-making and became the first President to visit all Member Regional Associations.

Additionally, Mr Otu holds several prestigious international positions, including: WT 1st Class International Referee, WT Technical Delegate, Council Member (African Taekwondo Union & Commonwealth Taekwondo Union), Chairman – Development Committee (African Taekwondo Union), Former Member – Development Committee (World Taekwondo), 2^nd Vice President of Ghana Olympic Committee, honoured at the World Taekwondo 40th Anniversary in Mexico and awarded SWAG Federation President of the Year (2015).

With this impressive background, Mr Kankpenuba has so far been spared the blushes that often characterise such appeals.

The further endorsement by officials that attended the retreat the following day points to an agreement in unison.

Members that signed the petition wereMr Kankpenuba Peter Nuntaa Wisdom, Michael Ayrine Ayinzoya, Upper East Region; David Addotey, Greater Accra; Benon Sabastian Atatina, Northern Region; Simon Koku Gluikpor-Ashanti Region; Reuben Tamakloe-Ashanti Region; Tahiru Umar, Upper West Region; and Gladstone Nditsi Kwawukume, Eastern Region.

The rest were Prosper Kwame Medadues-Badohu-Volta Regional; Bernard Ampim Darko-Central Region; Percy K. Yiadom, Bono Region; Stephen Amegashie-Technical Director; Davis Attuquaye Clottey, Volta Region; Public Relations Officer, Rebecca S. Bentil, Western Region and Adnan Lamptey, Secretary General.

What is left now is Mr Otu’s reaction. Knowing how the system work, Mr Otu would surely do a lot of consultation with the rank and file of stakeholders as well as some of the big wigs of Ghana sports including the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and National Sports Authority (NSA) whose respective heads, Richard Akpokavie and Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, were all copied.

For close followers of the sport, the feat under Mr Otu cannot be ignored and the advice to him is that the appeal from delegates is one worth considering.

By Andrew Nortey

Carlos Queiroz spoke to the press in Accra on Thursday during his official unveiling.

The Black Stars Head Coach addressed the Ghanaian media for the first time since his appointment last week.

He assessed the Black Stars squad and touched on topics including ego, team unity, and giving local players an opportunity in the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Read the full transcript below.

On first words

My first words is to express my gratitude. It is an honour and a privilege for me to be here today. I know since I arrived, I start to feel that this is the soul of the black stars. Yesterday I saw and I feel the vibration and I start to realise that the soul of the Black Stars is huge. It is huge.

So that means that our dreams and expectations are also huge. I want to say that after the 8 national games and a couple of important competitions, this is the biggest challenge of all my life. And I am grateful for that.

I am grateful that I can promise again to the group that I will bring 40 years of my knowledge and experience. I am a coach for the differently generations and fortunately without my players I can’t do much. I have a symbolic record of years in the game in terms of international games. And I don’t know what I can say. I feel good about it. So, I trust and I believe that the support of my staff and the support of the board, the support of my players, the support of the friends and the fans, the special supporters, all together, with creation and with a lot of ambition, I believe and I trust that we can bring success. In a simple way, I can say to you, I am still ready.

On structure, discipline and control missing in current team

You know you mentioned something that is correct. We are running against the wind. We are running against time. But, as I said, in my experience and my expertise, and the support of the staff and especially the work of the staff, they are the most important people among all of us, especially our players. I’m very much confident that we can do it. Of course, this demands a lot of hard work, but in life, that was always my approach. You only have five choices. One, you can choose the easier way. If you choose the easier way, you cannot succeed in football. Or you can choose a way as we do now, what we did before. Seven days with the staff, observations, we used many moments in the report to assess where we stand in this moment. We cannot lie to ourselves.

On responsibility of the staff

Now it’s up to us to implement the programme to prepare our players for this event. So, I’m very much confident. Yes, sir, you are right. Because not only I trust myself and my staff but watching the group of players that have been there for hours, I am sure and I am confident and I believe that we can assemble a good team, a great team to perform on the pitch. Not always. And you also must have a little bit of imagination.

Not always a group of special talent players that can be on the pitch as a great team. This is exactly why I am very much confident because my goal and my target from today on, is to make our players understand that if we play together, we should be able to achieve great things as a team one day. Thank you very much.

On being a defensive oriented or attacking coach

My personal experience in the national team is not that thin, more than football or chess or basketball. The language that I know for myself, and this is what I’m sure the international team expects from me, it is the winning language. I am a winning coach. When you don’t have the ball, you have to fight for it.

You have to sacrifice; you have to sweat on the pitch to recover the ball as fast as possible in order to have more chances to build up opportunities and so on. So, after 43 years in the game, if you ask me things about how to win a game, I can probably tell you a couple of things. If I’m defensive or attacking, I leave these things for you because you are the best. With my players, I only know one thing, and it is, if we have the ball, we have to attack, If we don’t have the ball, we have to fight for it. That’s the rule of the game. Because, at the end, at the end, we win together.

On Ghana’s job being the most challenging in career

Yes, I said that this is the biggest challenge of my life. There are a lot of incremental things that I could talk about. First, to play for a tournament with a fantastic reputation and a prestigious role, it is always an honour. And, as you can see the responsibility is huge. Because all these people, they expect to win the game and enjoy and share the happiness of everyone. But it is the biggest challenge in the game because it is the next game. It is the next round game. With all the other games that I have played before, all my team, the first squad, we have already won, we have already won so I am not worried about that. For me, this is the biggest challenge because I must win the next game and because I enjoy the tournament. So that’s why it is the biggest challenge for me.

On readiness to stay beyond four-month contract

If I have to stay here for the rest of my life I will not leave.

On things that need to improve

What I have to do now is to make an honest and accurate assessment of every step in terms of the qualities of the players that we have. We have to know every step. We know exactly what we need for the next couple of sessions and the next game. And based on the conclusions that were made, the second part is to make the right decisions in the right way.

And there is a difference that exists in the game. We have to be sure that we bring the right players to do the right thing. There is a difference in football, in coaching, between a good decision and the right decision. The only thing now that needs to happen is to study and analyse everything that is related to the past in order to improve the legacy of the biggest club of all time.

They come out, they wear it up, and we are proud of them, and we want to be sure that they make all the fans proud of them.

On target

What I can tell you is that from day one to the last day, we want to make it. Our goal, our target at this moment is to be ready to start the first day and get to the concert against Panama. That’s the first step of our journey in Europe.

On the energy players transform since he took over

Honestly, I have been in contact with the players, with the coaches, with the players in the team. I am not really sure about the feelings that they have about the position that we are in. We train every day to win. We train every day to be strong and win for the country and for the people. And I have a strong belief. I have a strong belief in my experience. A group of my technical team will operate locally and there is a group of members of the staff that will also operate abroad. And here, we want to try to gather all the information and make the final decision.

On creating a winning atmosphere

It is my belief, and this is what I believe in all national teams that I work with, Portugal, South Africa, Egypt, Qatar, the duty of a national team coach is to have their hands in the present and their eyes in the future. So, I want to say it is the duty of a national team programme. It is not only to manage my way to get the best results in the present, but also to create a heritage, a dynasty, a dynasty of players that after the World Cup in the United States, we know which generation will come in 2028, 2030, 2032. At this moment, I have to put 99.9% of my attention to the results and success of the World Cup. I wish God will give me the blessing to write the best results for the better in the present. And therefore, if it happens as I expect, I will be very happy and glad to give my contribution to the state and explain how I believe one national team must guarantee its legacy and its progress. I think that this country, as every country you already know in the world, has a huge, enormous potential. This is a country of footballers.

Ghana is a country of footballers. I believe that the day Ghana will be able to manage the present and the future in this way like I said, this country will not only be a country of footballers, but it will also be a country of champions.

On local players

First of all, nobody owns the national team. That’s the point that must be clear. Nobody owns the national team. But the players, they dream to represent the country. It is our job to give them a fair and right position. That’s why in this short period of time, I started with the federation, was organising local players because I didn’t want to go to the finals of the national team without having the opportunity to see them, to deal with them and analyse them. So, again, I thought it is to be sure that the ones that represent us are the ones that they really deserve to be there. For me, the national team, it is a heart without equals, without God. Inside the heart can only be the players that deserve to be there. And the moment you open the door and you ask for people to come in and help, that’s why they do have the people that they deserve to be. So, this is the way that I do it.

Of course, we know that the international footballers, a lot of them. And it is also my responsibility to make sure that the players that I select are the people with the right spirit.

GFA COMMUNICATIONS