Change your ways Kurt; football is dying and needs help
The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, must accept the hard truth that Ghana football is going through a difficult period and requires urgent attention before the situation gets worse and becomes more difficult to reverse.
The recent 4-2 defeat of the Black Stars to The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium should not be treated as an ordinary football result, considering the circumstances under which it happened and the growing concerns among supporters about the direction of the national team.
Ghana took a commanding 2-0 lead and appeared to have taken control of the match, but the Black Stars eventually conceded four goals to suffer another disappointing defeat in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
The result came after Ghana had already lost to Côte d’Ivoire in the opening match of the qualifiers, leaving the Black Stars without a point from their first two matches and raising fresh concerns about the team’s ability to recover from the disappointment of missing the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
For a country with Ghana’s proud football history, these developments should not be taken lightly, particularly when the problems appear to extend beyond the Black Stars to other national teams and the general state of the domestic game.
Ghana’s failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations was a major setback, as the Black Stars missed the tournament for the first time in two decades, and the development should have provided an opportunity for a serious review of the structures, policies and decisions guiding the country’s football.
The situation involving the Black Queens has also raised concerns, following their 2-1 defeat to Malawi in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which ended Ghana’s hopes of securing automatic qualification for the Women’s World Cup.
These setbacks should therefore lead to serious questions about the direction of Ghana football and whether enough is being done to build strong and competitive national teams across the various categories.
The questions are many, and they deserve honest answers: What is happening to the development of our national teams? What is being done to improve the quality of the Ghana Premier League? What long-term plans are in place to develop young players and coaches? What is being done to improve football infrastructure, attract supporters to the stadiums and make domestic football financially sustainable?
These are not questions that should be dismissed as attacks on the GFA, because they reflect the concerns of a football-loving public that has invested its emotions, time and resources in the game for many years.
Mr Okraku must therefore understand that criticism is an important part of leadership, especially when it comes from people who have followed the game closely and are concerned about developments within the football administration.
Not every person who criticises the GFA is an enemy of the Association, just as not every journalist who asks difficult questions is seeking to undermine the leadership of Ghana football.
There are times when criticism should be welcomed because it provides an opportunity for leaders to examine their decisions, identify weaknesses and make the necessary changes.
The GFA president must therefore listen to the concerns of supporters, former players, coaches, club administrators, journalists and other stakeholders, even when some of the views may be uncomfortable or difficult to accept.
What Ghana football needs at this point is not an administration surrounded by people who will only praise its decisions, but a leadership structure that allows room for honest advice and constructive criticism.
Mr Okraku needs people around him who can sit him down and tell him when something is not working, rather than people who will always defend every decision simply because they are close to the administration.
Those people, often described as hangers-on, are not helping the president if their main role is to shield him from criticism instead of helping him understand the concerns of the football public.
Ghana football belongs to the supporters who spend their money to attend matches, the young boys and girls who play football on dusty pitches with the hope of one day representing Ghana, the clubs that continue to invest in the domestic game and the millions of Ghanaians who follow the national teams with great expectation.
They deserve a Ghana Premier League that is properly organised, attractive to supporters and capable of producing players who can compete at the highest level, while the clubs also need a stronger commercial structure, better facilities and a clear pathway for developing young footballers.
The domestic league cannot simply be viewed as another competition that must be organised every season; it must be treated as the foundation of Ghana football, because a strong domestic structure should provide the players, coaches and competitive environment needed to strengthen the national teams.
There must also be greater attention to women’s football, youth development, coaching education, scouting, football infrastructure and the general welfare of players, because the future of Ghana football cannot depend solely on the emergence of a few talented individuals.
The GFA must also be prepared to measure its progress honestly, rather than relying mainly on programmes, announcements and ceremonies, because football administration must ultimately produce results that supporters can see on the pitch and experience within the domestic game.
The Black Stars have already experienced the disappointment of missing the 2025 AFCON, and the poor start to the next qualifying campaign has created another moment that requires serious reflection.
Mr Okraku must be prepared to accept criticism, learn from it and seek help where necessary, because no individual or administration has all the answers to the problems confronting Ghana football.
The GFA should be willing to listen to people outside its immediate circle and consider fresh ideas from former players, coaches, administrators, club owners, supporters, journalists and football development experts.
What Ghana needs now is action, not excuses, because the longer the problems remain unresolved, the more difficult it will become to restore confidence among supporters and rebuild the strength of the national teams.
Do not wait until it is too late.
Solve the problems now.
Accept the criticism, learn from it and put Ghana football ahead of personal interests, friendships and internal politics.
Kurt Okraku must understand that the supporters are watching, the players are watching and the entire country is watching, and what they want is not perfection but evidence that the people in charge understand the seriousness of the situation and are prepared to do something about it.
Ghanaians deserve better. The players deserve better. The clubs deserve better. The supporters deserve better. And above all, Ghana football deserves better.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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