Sports
Resetting Ghana sports
In a few weeks’ time, returnee president, John DramaniMahama, will assume the reins of governance after taking his Oath of Office on January 7, 2025.
This follows the National Democratic Congress (NDC) historic feat in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections held on December 7.
That ended the eight-year reign of President Nana AddoDankwaAkufo- Addo and his vice, DrMahamuduBawumia, of the New Patriotic Party.
It’s been less than a week after JDM’s declaration by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission who doubles as the Returning Officer of the presidential poll, Mrs Jean Mensa, but several calls and suggestions have been flying across the corridors of power.
For bitter NDC faithful, top NPP officials who were alleged to have been involved in shoddy deals should be whisked away by the police or the respective agency in charge of investigation.
Others have urged the new team to hit the ground running in a bid to alleviate the pain and difficulties in which Ghanaians find themselves.
Followers of sports are not left out in this regard. They want to see a lot of changes as part of a mammoth agenda to RESET the nation.
This may be coming on the back of the reality that Ghana sports in the past few years have been on a backward trajectory.
At the last Olympic Games in Paris, members of Team Ghana were mere passengers and tourists. The only excitement seen on the faces of Ghanaians was not as a result of a medal won but the sight of watching members fly Ghana flags during the opening ceremony.
The celebration was about the projection of Ghana as active and regular participants at the games but always far away from the medal podium.
The height of the disappointment was the Black Stars’ failure to qualify for the 2025 AFCON – the first miss in 20 years.
In a qualifying group that had Angola, Sudan and Niger, the Black Stars under Coach Otto Addo ended the qualifiers winless – drawing three and lost same.
That is not to suggest that the other national teams are performing any better.
Apart from the national U-20 team, the Black Satellites, that triumphed in the football event of the last edition of the African Games hosted in Accra, Ghana’s success in football has been in minor competitions in the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) B region.
It has been so with many or all of the sports disciplines operating under the National Sports Authority (NSA). Athletics, boxing (both pro and amateur), handball, volleyball, basketball, taekwondo, kickboxing, tennis, table tennis, cycling etc. are experiencing similar fate.
Maybe, the only shining light is the sport of arm-wrestling, Ghana’s Messiah at the African Games.
Obviously, this is not a good record for a country that considers herself as a sports nation and clearly remains one of the first and foremost sectors that needs resetting.
What is of paramount interest to Ghanaians at the moment are the qualifiers for the USA, Canada and Mexico 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Fortunately, the Black Stars languish in second spot with an important away victory over Mali doing the magic.
Under the upcoming administration, fans must see a new composure and attitude reset to meet the challenges to qualify for the World Cup.
Football on the local scene must also see an improvement in teams’ performances and administration.
The brains administering the game must also be reset to understand and admit that the local players are capable of delivering the same results from the foreign legion at a much cheaper cost.
The other disciplines would also need massive push to come up but in all of this, sports with comparative advantages must get the nod over those that should be reduced to recreational sports.
Above all, the sector will need a supervisor with a good knowledge about the area to lead the resetting agenda in order not to lose focus or fall to the conspiracytheories of the sophisticated administrators.
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.
