The Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Henry Asante Twum, says Ghana football cannot die when some teams are doing well.
During an interview with Max FM last month, Henry addressed the prevalent notion that football in Ghana was on the decline. He vehemently disagreed, stating that it was shallow-minded to declare the death of football in the country.
“I never sat on radio station to say that Ghana football has collapsed, because if you want to make a shallow minded analysis. You will jump on it saying Ghana Football has collapsed but I am an Akan and if we say something has collapsed that means it’s no more”
Drawing from his rich cultural background, Henry explained that in the Akan tradition, the term “collapsed” meant something no longer existed. He used examples from Ghana’s music scene to illustrate his point, mentioning legendary bands that had truly ceased to exist.
“Making reference to Yemoah’s Band it has collapsed and it’s no more, African Brothers Band which was headed by Mr. Obuoba J.A Adofo, they usually come there when I was in Suboi for their concerts, it has collapsed and it’s no more in existence, Apolo Hi-kings band that was also headed by Amakye Dede has also collapsed and it’s no more. Non existing things are things that are no more and there’s no ambiguity, it’s a shallow argument and you will fall for it when you follow the crowd. There’s nothing that has collapsed and it’s still existing”
With eloquence and conviction, Henry argued that while Ghanaian football faced challenges, it had not collapsed. He acknowledged the struggles of clubs like Accra Hearts of Oak, Legon Cities, and Dreams FC in finding suitable home grounds but emphasized that challenges were not synonymous with failure.
“There are challenges and I agree, as we speak Accra Hearts Of Oak (then) does not have a permanent home ground to play football, Legon Cities too don’t know where to play their home matches, Dreams FC is also struggling for a home venue”
Henry reminded everyone of Ghana’s rich football history, boasting iconic players like Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, and Asamoah Gyan. Yet, he lamented the lack of a standard stadium in the entire nation, highlighting the need for infrastructure development.
“And this is Ghana, we call ourselves a Football nation because we have produced Essien, Muntari, Asamoah Gyan and we don’t even have a standard Stadium in the whole Greater Accra because the Accra Sports Stadium [was] closed and there [was] no other stadium in Accra.”
In his closing remarks, Henry urged his fellow Ghanaians not to succumb to pessimism but to rally together to overcome obstacles and revitalize their beloved sport.
“So there are challenges and the challenges that are confronting our football and is not the doing of Kurt Okraku, and also not the doing of Mark Addo who is the Vice President or the doing of Prosper Harrison Addo who is the General Secretary because it is a social contract of every Government to provide football infrastructure for the development of football, there are lots of Astroturf in Ghana but they are not up to standard, it can’t be used for anything, examples are the Madina, Fadama and also Tema which is completely gone, it was built about 13 years ago and it has out leaved it’s value so the players gets ankle injuries when they are utilizing it.”
