No turning back in this matter
At a FIFA seminar for African clubs in Cape Town, South Africa early this year, there was so much to learn in terms of experience sharing.
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From north to south, east to west, there was no doubting the fact that the continent’s most popular game was buffeted by common problems in areas such as sponsorship and marketing.
It wasn’t all gloom, though, as at the end of the four-day deliberations, so much hope was held out for the Continent, largely on account of the quality of submissions made by speakers at the seminar.
However, something said by the CEO of African giants, Al-Ahly, continues to ring loudly in my ears up to this day. In spelling out the vision of the club, he said by the time a player rose from the junior team to Al-Ahly proper; the red colour became the rallying point at which he was prepared to ‘drop dead’ for the club.
This, according to him, was one big reason for Ahly’s phenomenal might in Continental club football.
I immediately felt goose bumps all over my body on hearing this, and I simply couldn’t help reminiscing the era in Ghana when wearing the national team jersey was a guarantee to see players exhibiting the highest level of nationalism.
That was when getting called up to the Black Stars was a steamy race for the fittest of the fittest. No one misconstrued their invitation as a stage for them to feel they were super Ghanaians.
Times without number, the point has been stressed that we can assemble the most talented players in the world at any given time but if they lack discipline, their talent will count for nothing.
What happened to Ghana in Brazil wasn’t just an eruption triggered by unforeseen circumstances. Because we have pampered some of these players even when they showed gross acts of indiscipline, they always feel the country that has made them what they are today is their footstool.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, I say one more time that players should never be made to feel that they are bigger than this country. We have an obligation to ensure that we put that regrettable chapter of our football behind us.
There is no way we have to carry this “despicable baggage” with us into the future if we are really serious in our declarations to give Ghana football a new lease of life.
If the players who were shamefully behind Ghana’s embarrassment at Brazil 2014 ask to be forgiven for whatever happened, that can be considered if they are truly remorseful.
However the spirit of ‘forgive and forget’ need not be confused with extending an olive branch to the same players to return to the Black Stars as being suggested in some quarters. These players should never be part of the Black Stars again.
The new beginning we are craving for must not suffer from any ignition failure because of the canker of indiscipline. People may continue to make all sorts of noise about the need to have experienced players in the team at any given time.
It was the same thing they said before Brazil 2014 that led to Kevin Prince Boateng and Michael Essien returning to the squad. Do we want to inflict something like that on ourselves again?
We should ignore all that and rather focus on what will redound to the good of Ghana football in the long run.