MPs discuss ways to improve sports after Ghana’s poor showing at Afcon

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Yussif, today informed Parliament of plans by the government to improve the performance of the national team, the Black Stars.

Hon. Yussif said, the technical bench of the team has been tasked to come up with more details on the selection and management of the players to ensure better performance in future tournaments.

He added that there is a roadmap to encourage inter-school participation in active sports to ensure the best talents are harnessed for future national sports endeavors and to widen the scope of selection to the national soccer team.

A Statement by the MP for South Tongu, Hon. Wisdom Kobena Woyome, cited many technical anomalies such as player disconnect, indiscipline, poor managerial tactics, poor motivation, etc as some of the causes of the poor performance of the team.

Members, from both sides of the House spoke against the performance of the National Team, suggesting, passionately, many ways the team's fortunes can be improved.

Rockson Dafeamekpor, Freda Prempeh, Haruna Iddrisu and Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu spoke about the need for the nation to take steps to generally overhaul the Black Stars team and its administration to enable the players to perform better in future tournaments.

Meanwhile, the Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has sacked Black Stars Coach Milovan Rajevac.

This follows the receipt of the technical report from the coach, the medical report and the report from the management committee following Ghana’s early exit from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The Executive Council after considering the three reports and engagements with key stakeholders decided to end its relationship with Coach Milovan Rajevac and also decided that the Black Stars Management Committee be reconstituted.

The Association in a statement thanked Milovan Rajevac and the Management Committee for their service and wished them the very best in their future endeavors.

The GFA noted that it will soon announce the reconstituted Technical Team and Management Committee after due engagement with all relevant stakeholders.

Ghana exited the group stages of the Afcon without a win securing just one point in a group made up of Morocco, Gabon and Comoros.

Ghana’s next assignment is a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 playoff against Nigeria in March 2022.