Former Black Stars captain André Dede Ayew has called for greater investment in grassroots sports, drawing from his own journey from community football to the highest level of the game.
Ayew, who made a surprise appearance at the ESP Hotel in Labone, Accra, for a presentation of sports items to the National Sports Authority’s Resource Mobilisation and Partnership Committee (RMPC) by the Ghana–Anhui Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hailed the gesture to support the upcoming Constituency Games, and it’s significance to Ghana’s grassroots sports development drive.
The 36-year-old said his own story demonstrated how access to opportunity and proper development structures could shape the future of a young athlete.
The former Ghana captain said the initiative could provide the opportunities many talented young people need to develop their abilities, urging corporate institutions, development partners and individuals to support the programme.
Ayew’s message carried particular significance given his own background. Born in Seclin, France, in 1989 while his father, Ghana legend Abedi Pele, was playing in France, Dede benefited from an early exposure to structured football development.
He nevertheless spent part of his formative years in Ghana with Nania FC, the club founded by his father, before returning to France and joining the Olympique de Marseille academy in 2005 at 16.
Marseille was the same club where Abedi had established himself as a European star and won the 1993 Champions League.
That pathway eventually took Ayew to the Black Stars, where he became captain and represented Ghana at major international tournaments, while also building a distinguished club career.
His story, therefore, mirrors the central philosophy of the Constituency Games — that talent can come from anywhere, but requires opportunity, structure and sustained support to flourish.
His experience, he suggested, should not be seen simply as personal privilege but as evidence of what can happen when young talent receives the right support at the right time. Ayew also stressed that Ghana must create pathways that allow children from every community to discover and develop their abilities, regardless of their economic circumstances or location.
“I was privileged to be born in France and to have access to football at a very young age. Many talented children in Ghana deserve that same opportunity,” he said.
“If we invest early in our young people and give them the right structures, we can discover the next generation of champions from every corner of Ghana,” Dede Ayew said.
His appearance added significance to the launch of the Constituency Games, which seeks to take organised sporting opportunities to communities nationwide while creating a pathway from constituency-level competition to regional and national stages.
Ayew’s own journey—from growing up in the shadow of an iconic father to becoming a distinguished Black Stars captain—provided a powerful example of how opportunity, development and sustained support can transform youthful promise into sporting excellence.
