How ready are we for coming events?
The Queen's Commonwealth Relay Baton has gone round smoothly and excitedly, reminding this wonderful Coast of Gold to get ready for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games slated for Glasgow, Scotland, almost immediately after the World Cup tournament in Brazil. We are lucky to be in a year of big sporting events which every able-bodied citizen is looking forward to.
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The Baton was passed straight from Kenya, the home of long distance runners and world record holders, and how great it was to see many citizens touching it and making one or two laps for the cameras to capture to prove that we are proud members of the ever-powerful British Commonwealth of nations headed by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
This unbelievable Coast of Gold (without a challenger) holds the Commonwealth in high esteem and, no wonder, the Baton enjoyed three days stay on our shores for citizens of this land to have a feel of it. Vice- President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur gleefully held it and passed it on to the British High Commissioner and then to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Afriyie Ankrah, Parliamentarians, traditional leaders in Accra, important personalities and businessmen such as Dr Osei Kwame Despite and some artistes, including Adwoa Smart.
And when it travelled to the countryside, important traditional rulers like Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III of the Akwamu State in the Eastern Region and Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of the Asogli Traditional Area and chairman of the Board of Directors of Accra Hearts of Oak, and some great sporting heroes such as Professor Azumah Nelson, Mike Ahey, Majeti Fetrie and others like the former Commonwealth Gold medallist and President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, Prof. Francis Dodoo. Oh, what a rally and the passing of the Baton!
But as of now, the question that comes to mind is how ready are we for the high-profile Games at this period when very little is being seen on the athletics and amateur boxing front - our best sporting events - and all we hear are the blame game with various associations blaming the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports for not having a policy direction, and finally the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for always saying there are not funds for this or that sporting event.
In a period like this, how proactive can the Ghana Olympic Committee, the internationally recognised body which carries sportsmen and women on its wings and make sure to share the spoils of honour at the Games, be to complement what the Baton did for the good of the Commonwealth Games?
As of now, the Kenyans, Nigerians, Jamaicans, South Africans, Ugandans and others are making serious waves in their preparation to break records at the Glasgow Games. And with the Games coming off after the London Olympics, no one should remind us of how high the stakes would be, and I wonder whether we have sportsmen and women who really qualify per the criteria of international bodies.
It is the wish of every citizen that we attend such games with the aim of making an impact and returning home with gold, silver and bronze medals. My personal feeling is that as the world watches us closely, we do not just have to go to Glasgow to display our national colours and end up making a mockery of ourselves, but rather get the plaudits we deserve for our effort.
It will be recalled that during the Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, in 1962, our athletes were declared the fastest following our prowess in the sprints, and four years later in Kingston, Jamaica, the Black Bombers, the national amateur boxing team, won the accolade "the best boxing nation” in the Commonwealth.
In those days I had cause to warn that this land needed a natural name and that every land without its natural name will suffer unduly, and if we believe it or not, today it is clear that we need a rebirth and re-baptism and a return to a blessed natural name, THE GOLD COAST (COTE D’OR) in French.
In the same vein that we see ourselves in the coming Commonwealth Games, so do we see our poor standards at the continental clubs level as our clubs bemoan their fate for decades without finding answers to backsliding.
It is exactly one decade ago that Hearts won the Confederation Cup, while their closest rivals Kotoko have not seen an Africa Cup since 1983.
What a hell!
In a matter of weeks Kotoko will be making another frantic attempt at the continental stage, and their first opponents are Barrack Young Controllers of Liberia with the first leg taking place in Kumasi on February 9. Waiting on the fringes for Kotoko in the event of their victory over BYC are the Ivorian champions and their Guinea Bissau counterparts.
The other Ghanaian partners, Berekum Chelsea, take on Atlabar of Southern Sudan with the first leg slated for Berekum. The Confederation Cup has Ebusua Dwarfs and Medeama SC meeting good old Jaraafs of Senegal and Panthers of Equatorial Guinea respectively.
Kotoko and their large army of followers hosted JSM Bejaia of Algeria in the preliminary stage of the last competition in Kumasi and the disappointment is still fresh in our minds. Was it not a wake-up call for our football authorities to realise the need to make it a policy to maintain our top stars in their clubs to improve upon our image and theirs before selling them over to other countries?
It is very sad to classify our football as one of the best as seen elsewhere on the continent. We can’t afford to witness defeats and low standards from year to year; something must be done to arrest the painful decline and the selling out of our stars for peanuts.
A word to the wise is enough! Good luck.