One thing that can truthfully be said about Ghana is that it is a country in which football has become an impassioned national obsession. Of all the nations in the world that have been taken over by soccer mania, perhaps only the Brazilians can rival the people of Ghana in their sensibility and love for the game. In comparison to other sub-Saharan African nations, Ghana has a considerable record of achievements in football/soccer, probably because Ghanaians have been playing the sport in an organized manner since the very early 1900s and initiated a national football association a full six years before Ghana’s 1957 independence from Britain. Ghana was admitted to the Confederation of African Football and FIFA just one year later and organized a national league in 1959.
Today, Ghana is one of the most respected and talented football-playing nations on the African continent. Together with Cameroon and Egypt, it is one of three countries to have won the African Cup of Nations championship at least four times. Actually, Ghana held this honor exclusively for over ten years while the other two countries were busy catching up to Ghana’s soccer accomplishments. For all that glory, however, it was not until 2006 that Ghana finally qualified to compete in the prestigious World Cup competition. Meanwhile, Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia have all represented Africa at least once in the world cup. Until failing in their bid to qualify for Germany ’06, Cameroon and Nigeria were Africa’s perennial representatives in that global soccer fiesta.
What is the explanation? What has happened to organized football in Ghana that prevents it from fulfilling its great expectations and winning international competitions and awards? What is wrong in Ghana football and what is necessary to fix it? These are questions that deserve answers. They are also questions that I have been wrestling with for several years, and they form the basis for the rationale behind this book.
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