Sports
Okraku’s rise to CAF ExCo
The rise of Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kurt Okraku, may come as a sucker punch to many of his critics in Ghana especially.
For those critics, nothing good can be identified with his administration. It has been stretched to the extent that any negative occurrence in the game is quickly attributed to him or his administration.
In fact, Kurt Okraku’s name in some quarters has become the definition of any negative occurrence in the game in Ghana.
However, it beats the imagination of all how such a person, who is often the most criticised, maybe apart from government officials, continue to earn international recognition.
The Black Stars have failed to shine; climaxing that catastrophe with a failure to qualify for the next edition of AFCON. The other national teams have all struggled under him.
For this reason he has been chastised.
But in the face of these failures, Kurt Okraku was elevated to an Executive Member position at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) at its congress held recently.
One would then ask the obvious question whether it is the case of a dislike for him that has shrouded the efforts he is putting in to develop the game in Ghana.
In a rare encounter with him recently, one of the questions I asked was why is he criticised on daily basis for the work he’s doing?
But his response was quite instructive.
Drawing an analogy from good old book – Bible, he practically preached to me about the story of the Lord Jesus Christ who was not accepted in his own home but was accepted outside his jurisdiction.
“My brother, I have no idea why people criticise me that much. They may have their reasons for doing that but I look beyond them. Even our Lord Jesus was despised by his own people. I am focused on doing the best for Ghana football. Maybe, if I don’t get the recognition today, a future generation may recognise my effort,” he said.
He may be true in a certain sense. Many times, people do not treasure the good things they have until they lose it. This is very common in many facets of life.
Irrespective of where one stands, his elevation to the high office of a CAF Executive Member is one Ghanaians cannot intentionally ignore.
Mr Okraku is the sixth Ghanaian to be occupying that office and faces the challenges of keeping the flag of Ghana high and improve the image built for the country by his predecessors.
Perhaps the efforts at the WAFU Zone ‘B’ level were so minute that it escaped the lenses of his critics but obviously, a top post at CAF is too big to be ignored.
He deserves the commendations of every Ghanaian. What he needs is the support of all but that is not to suggest that he has grown about criticism. Ayekoo Mr Okraku!
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
‘Black Stars not there yet’
After seeing Mali undone by Alexander Djiku’s second half strike to give Ghana a 1-0 victory over Mali on Monday in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Accra, Otto Addo gave his thoughts in the post-match press conference.
Below are excerpts.
On the game against Mali
You could see that we have a young squad and players who haven’t been playing often for the national team so far; that made them nervous. I think we got a good game.
We increased the pressure early in the second half, and managed to score out of a set piece. And then it was pure fight afterwards, especially the period after the goal.
On decision-making in the final third
I think if you have played before, you know that sometimes there’s a little bounce from the ball or the position is close and you think too much, I told them actually, but as a footballer, it’s normal that you try to look for a perfect solution.
Semenyo’s performance
He did really well, you know, it’s difficult to compare games from the Premier League with games in Africa and Ghana. It’s very, very difficult and then all games have their own nature and surely you can say that he stands more out in the Premier League, but for me today he was excellent, he fought until he couldn’t run anymore.
On Gideon Mensah
Well, I think sometimes he’s a little bit too confident and we had, especially after the Chad game, had some talks and for everyone who has played football on a higher level.
If he does it in La Liga, it’s fine because in La Liga, if you lose the ball to your opponent, he will counter-press you. He needs to simplify his game sometimes. Didn’t look too complicated, but it’s difficult sometimes if you’re coming from a different environment to switch your thinking.
On Kwasi Sibo’s performance
First of all, big congrats for him. I think he really did well. It’s not easy to come from a different environment to fit into the squad, but yeah, he knows a lot of players already in the team and he connected well. He’s very, very confident and I think he did extremely well, especially when you see that this was his first match. .
On Ghanaians being overly expectant
No, I think the expectations are normal. We are Ghana. For me, if everybody is talking before the Chad game that we already won and we are already taking the three points, it’s dangerous because if this gets to the heads of the fans, it’s a problem for me.
I’m warning everybody who think we have already gone to the World Cup to take things easy. It’s not like that. We have to give the same effort as today to beat Central African Republic. If we don’t do this, it’s a big problem. We have a lot of work to do. A lot of work. It’s going to be very, very difficult.
On goal scoring
You know, the last window, we scored eight goals. I think it was ok, but we can’t expect it all the time. So I hope that the players who missed the chances would score the next time. But it’s all about learning, improving and adapting always to the circumstances.
And I think in each situation, they could have taken one, two, three steps more or more time to look for the partner to have a better overview to give the right pass.
Sports
Black Queens Set to Face England Lionesses in International Friendly
The Black Queens will face the Lionesses of England in a high-profile international friendly on December 2,2025 per agreement between the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the England Football Association.
After reaching the semi-finals at the 2024 WAFCON, the Black Queens are determined to build on that performance and establish themselves among the elite teams on the continent.
This match comes off as part of Ghana’s preparations for all international assignments, including the 2026 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The fixture against England, one of the world’s top-ranked sides and reigning European champions, is expected to provide the Queens with a tough test that will sharpen the squad.
Head coach Kim Lars Björkegren will also seize the golden opportunity to measure the team’s progress, expose the players to world-class opposition, and correct areas that need improvement.
The Black Queens will head into the encounter motivated to put up a strong performance, not only to test their readiness but also to showcase the strides Ghana continues to make in women’s football on the international stage.
