Ghana Black Stars squad - Photo Ghana FA.
The first point of call when performances of national football teams dwindle is the Federation or the Association that handles those brands.
It therefore behoves the mother body of the national teams to put its house in order to ensure that all the pistons of the teams - technical, management and communication work smoothly.
The current administration of the Ghana Football Association has not been spared the harshest of words since the head, Kurt Okraku came into office in 2019.
Several connoisseurs, aficionados and ordinary followers of football in Ghana have rated the FA’s administrative style below par simply due to the senior national team’s unimpressive performance lately.
Apart from pockets of successes with the U-20 at the 2021 AFCON finals, the 2024 Africa Games glory, the senior side has struggled for success since 2019. Ghana’s fortune at the AFCON started diminishing from 2019 where they exited in round 16 before two successive group stage eliminations in 2021 in Cameroon and the rescheduled 2023 tournament in Ivory Coast.
Ghana FA President Kurt Okraku - Ghana FA.
The FIFA World Cup is not left out either with the Ghana suffering a group stage bow in Qatar 2022 and now struggling to qualify for USA, Canada and Mexico 2026. Prior to these descents, the four time African champions have finished in the quarter finals from 2008 to 2017 with two runner up finishes in 2010 and 2015.
There were equally three straight World Cup appearances in 2006, 2010 and 2014 before a fourth in 2022. The Black Stars are currently seated on jagged edge - panting for breath and relying on hope and prayers to be able to book a slot at the next AFCON in Morocco next year.
The team sits third in group F on 2 points from four games - five points behind second placed Sudan and 10 apart from leaders, Angola who they face in the penultimate qualifier in Luanda.
The curtains would be drawn on the qualifiers at home to Niger and senior manager of communication at the Ghana Football Football Association, Tophic Abdul Kadir Sienu admits that, they are a worried institution.
“We need to be honest and face reality, the situation of the Black Stars is a worry to everybody, it’s a worry to every Ghanaian. We at the GFA, in fact if somebody should be worried, we are the number one people who should be worried."
Ghana Black Stars in a training session - Ghana FA.
“If the Black Stars fail to win a game, the kind of personal attacks that we suffer, the kind of brand attacks that the GFA suffers, a lot of people have no idea. “We understand that football is an emotional sport so people react based on the emotions.
“If you lose they will react, if you win they will react [and] that is the emotions attached to football. However, we at the FA are always the first point of call if the Black Stars lose,” Tophic Abdul Kadir Sienu told Radio Gold Sports.
Ghana must win all two matches and hope that Sudan lose the remaining games to stand a chance of going to Morocco. A slip means the Black Stars will not be at the AFCON for the first time since 2004.
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