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