Hundreds of soccer enthusiasts demonstrate to demand reforms in Ghana football
The fans started their walk at the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle as they marched through the principal streets of Accra
For the first time in the history of Ghanaian football, some concerned fans and sports journalists on Wednesday (14 February) staged a demonstration to vent their frustrations over the decline of football in the country.
The fans started their walk at the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle as they marched through the principal streets of Accra in black branded t-shirts, singing and chanting to demand football reforms.
Dubbed the “Save Ghana Football Demonstration,” protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “Sika Di Basabasa Montwa So, “Decline in Our Football,” “Minister, Be Firm or be Fired,” and “Grow Our Sports, Not Your Football Clubs.”
Others read, “Football is for All of Us,” “Football is Our Passion, Don’t Kill It, Kurt,” “Fix the Fundamentals of Ghana Football Now,” among others.
Despite agitations over the route to be used, football fans finally ended at the Black Star Square, where they were addressed by the conveners over the proposal submitted to appropriate authorities.
Addressing the hundreds gathered at the Black Star Square, Sports Journalist, Saddick Adams (Sports Obama), a lead convenor of the demonstration, was grateful to the fans for showing up in their numbers to support the course of revamping Ghanaian football.
“We want the President of Ghana and Parliament to institute a committee to investigate our participation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as well as AFCON 2023 regarding the budget.”
“Those who took US$100,000 at the World Cup should return it to the state budget, and we demand accountability, especially with the sponsorships we got for our national team,” Adams said.
“We want the government to dissolve all management committees, and we have proposed how our teams should be run in the petition presented to all stakeholders,” he said.
Saddick Adams also demanded the immediate dissolution of the committee put together to search for a new coach for the Black Stars, and called for an interim technical team to be put in place by the close of the week to investigate what happened at the 2023 AFCON.
“No taxpayer’s money should be used to pay GFA officials, as those monies could be used to develop our colts football, women’s league, and our league,” he said.
The convenors presented their petition to Parliament, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and other stakeholders.
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