It’s time to take a long-term approach to correct the wrongs in our football – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo says it’s high time Ghana deployed a long-term strategy to help solve the country’s football problems.

According to him, the recent performances of the Black Stars have raised questions about the future of the sport in Ghana as the search for success still continues.

Ghana suffered yet another group-stage exit at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire after picking just two points from a possible six. The Black Stars, then under the tutelage of Chris Hughton, failed to progress from Group B which also had Cape Verde, Egypt and Mozambique.

Akufo-Addo talked about the disappointment of the team’s performance in Abidjan which he believes was contrary to what the players expected.

“The recent AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire was probably the nadir of the performance of the Black Stars, and has left the nation saddened. However, I am quite certain that the young men and the technical handlers would, themselves, have wanted to make our nation proud, and I believe that the captain, Andre Dede Ayew, meant every word when he rendered heartfelt apologies on behalf of his team-mates to all Ghanaians for the team’s early exit,” he said in his penultimate State of the Nation Address delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, February 27.

In the wake of the retrogression of Ghana’s football, the President intends to unveil a ‘Presidential Policy on Football’ which will address the challenges of these problems.

“I believe it is time for us to take a long-term, far-sighted approach to correct what has gone wrong. It is time to return to scouting, grooming and developing talent at the district grassroots level under a Presidential Policy on Football that I intend to unveil,” he continued.

“The school sports department of the Ministry of Education will work hand in hand with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration and synergy with the Ghana Football Association (GFA), to build district, regional and national juvenile teams for both boys and girls.

“The more than one hundred and fifty (150) astro turf pitches constructed throughout the country, under this administration, provide the foundational facilities to make a start, as we strive to provide more of them. We should see a steady progression of talent up the ladder from the junior juvenile teams to the senior sides based on merit, and nothing else.”