Sports

Give us a Sports Minister of substance

It is that time of the political season where ‘Fellow’ Ghanaians will have to show their lobbying skills to catch the attention of a freshly elected and sworn-in president and his vice.

Like it is done in the legislature where ‘Honourables’ must work hard to get the attention of the Speaker, so must fellow Ghanaians scramble for space, swerve every obstacle to submit a Curriculum Vitae (CV).

Usually, one must be well connected to more powerful people closer to those on the corridors of power for a CV to land at the appropriate place.

The scramble at the end of the day is to be favoured and selected for a ministerial role. When one is successful and even cleared by the house of Honourables, the victor is likely to serve as a Minister of the state for a period only God knows.

For some, it is after this that they can beat the chest proudly and state “Yes, I have arrived.”

But it is mesmerising how the efforts of the ambitious ones can be thwarted by comments or suggestions from another set of fellow Ghanaians.

These kind of fellow Ghanaians are the ones that lacks the prerequisite to desire the aspirations of the ambitious group.

At least through various media platforms, they make their voices heard on who should be selected for which ministry and give reasons why.

This happens very often but as to whether it is heard at the corridors of power, it will be difficult to tell.

Happenings in the current political ‘cocoa’ season has been no exception. Certain offices have been inundated with a lot of these CVs that an announcement had to be made for it to stop.

It may have stopped but what will be difficult to stop, may be the lobbying and those offering words of advice on who should be selected and who should be ignored.

Ahead of the announcement of a Minister of Sports and recreation (MoSR), there have been a lot of conversation over who to consider for the post and what the person brings to the table.

Some have called for an abrasive leader, expecting him to be tough and have either a thick skin or develop a dead goat syndrome to deal with perceived ills in the sector.

Some have gone to the extent of choosing such people to specifically deal with some actions or persons at the Ghana Football Association (GFA); as if that is where all the problems of Ghana sports emanates from.

Some have come up with many other suggestions; all in a bid to get someone cut for the role of the Sports Minister.

This is gradually making the role of the Minister of sports and recreation as the most difficult one; and perhaps no longer education, finance and labour etc.

But whatever happens, the selectors must carefully consider the true needs of Ghana sports and have a good knowledge of it as well as it current administration globally.

If we say sports has become a business, the sports minister nominee must fathom what it means and what is required to make it so.

The nominee must know and accept that sports is not just football. Apart from football, Ghana has over 50 sports federations, all depending on the national cake for survival.

The decoupling of the youth from its functions and replaced by recreation should also aid the nominee in categorising these sports disciplines.

By the rule of competitive advantage, the nominee must decipher those with realistic chances of doing well to be pushed. What we need is a Minister of substance and be firm to all but fair.

By Andrew Nortey

Sports

Otto Addo the hero as Stars dazzle

The performance of the Black Stars of Ghana in their last two games has reinforced a job hazard associated with coaching.

Although, a game of football always comes with three outcomes, a coach must go to his knees in prayer, asking the Almighty God to constantly deliver him wins in every match.

It means the fans, who are also well aware that their demands for wins weeks in and out is not possible, would, however, not accept the other outcomes of either sharing the spoils or be defeated.

Those prayers to win every time also look impossible because there may be thousands, if not millions, of coaches on their knees almost at the same time, asking the Almighty for similar favours.

Coach Otto Addo may be aware of this interesting scenario but recent development would remind him of that strong desire of the fans to win at all cost, and the need to work hard to that realisation.

Having played for the Black Stars as one of the privileged players to represent Ghana at her maiden FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2026, his appointment as the Black Stars coach was hailed by many.

He did not practice his trade in Ghana like the many others but as a good player with Borussia Dortmund, he justified his selection into the Black Stars. He later became a coach of the German club.

Therefore, in the quest to domesticate the technical department of the Black Stars, he was appointed with high hopes, perhaps due to the experience gained in his role as an Assistant Coach at Dortmund.

Addo came at a very crucial moment. It was indeed decisive because Ghana was about to face Nigeria in a two-legged World Cup qualifying play-off to Qatar.

Impressively, he managed to go past the Nigerians to snatch the World Cup ticket for Ghana.

Afterwards, Otto Addo became as instant hero. Expectations skyrocketed in anticipation of a good World Cup showing. That dream was blown up in the air following some of the worst performances from the Black Stars at the global soccer Mundial. At that point, he became a villain.

But Ghana strangely kept faith with him. After a period of negotiations, Addo assumed the reins of the Stars technical bench but once again failed woefully; missing out from the 2026 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

In the end, he set an unwanted record of breaking a 20-year continuous participation at the African football festival.

In many quarters, that was unforgivable and would have been dragged to Golgotha Gethsemane for crucifixion.

Few months down the line, Coach Otto Addo and his team, which came under huge criticism for their underperformances, have been hailed for the improvement and hunger shown to the USA, Canada, and Mexico World Cup qualifiers.

From the lower ranks of the Group I table, the Black Stars currently lead the group with three points. They have 15 points and followed by Comoros with 12 with four matches to go.

That was made possible by scintillating displays against the group’s whipping boys, Chad, who conceded five in Accra and Madagascar who conceded three.

The transition from a team described as ‘one-goal project’ for winning matches with a goal margins to one that scores freely and defends with gusto seems magical and has gotten fans applauding.

That should tell Otto Addo that Ghanaians are not against him. All they care about are the deliverables – win, win, win and qualify for the World Cup.

And in doing so, he must ensure the right caliber of players are invited to ensure that the job is done.

His caution against complacency is quite instructive and every worker around the team must know. The enthusiasm is high now; the fans showed the love in the last two matches, so what is left now is for Otto Addo and his charges to deliver another World Cup. Failure to do that could see a return to ‘factory settings.’

By Andrew Nortey

Sports

MTN FA Cup: Kotoko tipped to end True Democracy dream

A soccer bonanza awaits football lovers this weekend as all four MTN FA Cup quarter-final matches take centre stage at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, seeking semifinal berths.

With nine FA Cup trophies in their trophy cabinet, three less than their bitter rivals, Hearts of Oak, who are on 12, Kumasi Asante Kotoko will be eager to get past Division One League (DOL) side, True Democracy, as they clash tomorrow at 7pm.

Kotoko, one of the two clubs in the last eight has been tagged by many connoisseurs to be the ultimate winners of this year’s trophy.

However; they are threading cautiously because of the uncertainties that surrounds the competition.

Kotoko often struggle against the lower-tier sides, but having gotten that close to the trophy, they would be hoping to capitalise on their home advantage to secure a spot in the semi-finals.

For the Tema-based True Democracy FC side, this offers huge platform to prove that their victories over former champions, Dreams FC and FC Nania, were no fluke.

Coming up against a mighty side like Kotoko in their first-ever appearance in the quarter-final stage, they would look to draw strength from the competition mantra to scale that hurdle.

Referee Maxwell Hanson will be in charge with Gabriel Boateng and Isaac Duodu assisting while Gabriel Opoku Arhin will be the fourth referee.

This stage of the competition kicks off today with two thrilling encounters. Division One League outfits, Attram De Vesser and PAC Academy, going at each other at 3pm.

Referee Angelous Akurugu Adonko, a product of the ‘Catch Them Young’ refereeing policy, will be assisted by Abraham Partey and Philip Amoh, with Theophilus Antwi Sekyi as the fourth official.

That clash will be followed by the highly anticipated Bono derby between 2016 champions, Bechem United, and Berekum Chelsea at 7pm.

FIFA referee, Julian Nunoo, will take charge of this with FIFA assistant referees Emmanuel Dolagbanu and Roland Addy assisting on the lines while Abdul Latif Adaari acts as the fourth referee.

The winner of this game will face Kotoko or True Democracy in the semis.

Tomorrow at 3pm, giant killers, Golden Kick, will take on Karela United.

Young referee Kingsford Oteng Yeboah will be assisted by Joseph Teye Awasasi and Haruna Yakubu, with Alex Amoabeng as the fourth official to officiate the game.

By Raymond Ackumey