Find truce or forget 2018 World Cup!
Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, our Sports Minister, and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) seem embroiled in an internecine media war characterised by accusations, counter accusations and name calling.
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Tensions are palpable, there is animosity ubiquitous and there is no love lost. Today, I explore the effects of this destructive relationship through the eyes of a senior FA official.
I love football!
Right from school, I would use my own money to buy copies of the African Soccer magazine to update myself. I would also leave school to watch the Black Stars’ training sessions. Working at the FA, I think, I just followed my passion. I saw it as an opportunity and knew that with time, I may also have an opportunity to positively influence the way football is managed.
In a way, 2006 revolutionalised our football— great confidence in the game, massive sponsorships, highly motivated staff and players etc. I think what happened was that, both the government and the FA realised that motivation was key. We had to restore the pride in playing for the national team again. We realised that some players were not even enthused to play for the nation. Some had to constantly buy their own tickets, which was not a good practice. Government, somehow, realised that football had the potential to project the country.
We also had a more cordial relationship with the sports minister and a more flexible financial arrangement. Usually, what happens is that, after major tournaments such as World Cups etc., FIFA donates some monies to support the development of football. These monies sometimes go to reimburse government and the FA for all the investments made prior to qualification and to build new footballing facilities etc. In the past, the government withdrew some of this FIFA funding to account for the activities it pre-financed but also entrusted a good amount to the FA to invest in football.
Change arrangements
These financial arrangements, somehow, changed in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups when monies were wholly claimed by government without leaving any for the FA. This created ongoing challenges for the FA. It put us in a difficult situation although we do a lot to put the country in the limelight. We should have done a better job of investing proceeds from the 2010 and 2014 World Cups in football fields or football academies etc. These really boost the morale of those directly overseeing the management of the game.
Lately, it has been difficult. The FA’s finances are not that strong. Added to this is the poor public image which has adversely affected our ability to attract funding from sponsors. Sponsors do not want to be associated with a brand that is, somehow, unfairly perceived as a cartel of corrupt people. The FA relies on sponsorship, prize monies from tournaments and grants from FIFA. Some people seem to feel that the football brand and the way the association is run is under the control of people amassing personal wealth and this is adversely affecting our ability to attract sponsorship. We have examples of this. It is bad and it is hurting our football.
Sometimes, we need to employ people with special technical abilities. All these have been affected. Staff morale has been affected. Remuneration is not being reviewed as it should. We should reach that point when we take steps to repair that image. Getting money for routine activities is not easy. You have to make requests with copious justifications before any small money will be released to you. Teams could go to camp with the FA prefinancing their feeding and team welfare and yet, reimbursement by the ministry will become a major issue.
I felt that the minister, being our father, should have been more circumspect in his public utterances. There is no way the trade minster will go and stand somewhere and paint an agency under him black. It has stalled a lot of things that the FA wanted to do. Sometimes, we have to call off camping. There are times when we bring an issue but then while trying to solve it, suddenly we will realise that the minister himself has taken the issues to the media. The media also takes sides and thrives on the controversy surrounding the conflict.
Bonuses
Regarding the recent attempt by the minister to review bonuses of players, for example, it is not proper for the minister himself to get into a direct negotiation with selected players on their bonuses outside the purview of the FA. Sometimes we hear that players have agreed to one thing or the other with the minister, but players can sometimes play both sides. And you don’t always know who he is specifically discussing these things with. Another example is the last match we played against Rwanda and the minister said he did not want foreign players to come and play. He went ahead and stopped the agent from processing the tickets. It was a low point. The minister should not involve himself in those matters. It sours the relationship with these players, the same players we are counting on to play for us.
You see, right from the minister’s vetting, he took the posture of someone coming to break a perceived mafia, but there is no mafia. There is no hidden corruption.
All I am saying is that, we are not in a good place. Players’ bonuses are not being paid, some Black Stars players self-financed flight tickets for the Rwanda match, Black Maidens went to Jordan without a dollar, the team had to struggle, no training tour … this was the first time that the national team did not go for a training tour prior to a major tournament.
Will the Black Stars qualify for the 2018 World Cup? It is shaky and it is difficult. It is possible, but for that to happen, everyone – ministers, players, administrators, supporters – everyone needs to be on board. Drawing the first match against Uganda was not good. After the Egypt match in Alexandria, things will become clearer.
We may need to find a truce, somehow. It is difficult to fight a government in power. I am not saying the FA is perfect. We need to do damage repair. The public needs to better understand us. Our public relations outfit needs to be strengthened. The FA needs to introduce more transparency into its activities. The FA should now consider publishing audited accounts so that people know the expenditure patterns and do the damage repair, so that the FA can get the support of the sponsors and grow the beautiful game of football. As we are doing these things, the minister should also support football. There should be a truce. This conflict between the Sports Minister and the FA is very bad. People are demotivated. Supporters are not showing up at matches to support us. We may need some senior government officials to intervene to address the canker and the media utterances.
At a personal level, my morale is currently very low. Sometimes, you can’t tell people where you are working. Immediately you tell them, the people think you are corrupt. My core passion for football has not changed. Football has given me more opportunities that I cannot overlook, but the whole system needs to improve so that everyone will be a beneficiary. Football is something that I believe I can contribute my quota to.