John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ghana, has unveiled plans to rejuvenate the Black Stars, Ghana’s national football team, by building a new squad comprising homegrown players if he wins the 2024 presidential elections.
Mahama’s announcement follows Ghana’s disappointing performance at the recent Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), where the team failed to progress beyond the group stage, marking their second consecutive early exit from the tournament after a 2-2 draw with Mozambique.
The former President attributed the Black Stars’ poor showing to the absence of Colts football, a grassroots-level football development system. He stated, “We just came from the Africa Cup of Nations, and we performed abysmally. We performed abysmally because we are not growing our football.”
Mahama reminisced about the days when Ghana had Colts’ leagues and academics, both of which played a crucial role in nurturing young football talent. He highlighted that these initiatives identified promising players at the grassroots level and nurtured them through various age groups, ultimately contributing to the success of the national team.
However, these grassroots development programs have faltered in recent years, leading to a decline in the quality of young talent available for the Black Stars. Addressing a community gathering in Bongo as part of the NDC’s “Building Ghana Tour,” Mahama pledged to work closely with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to revive Colts football and other grassroots initiatives to identify and nurture young football talents.
He stressed the importance of catching young talent early, training them, and allowing them to gain experience by playing for local teams. Mahama outlined his vision for the Black Stars, emphasizing the need to build a new team centered around homegrown players who have trained together and formed a cohesive unit. He also acknowledged the value of incorporating foreign-based Ghanaian players but emphasized that the core of the team should consist of domestic talents.
“We will build a new Black Stars based on homegrown players, domestic players who have trained together for a long time and work as a team, and then we bring the foreign ones to come and blend with them,” Mahama stated. He emphasized that relying solely on foreign-based players who do not play together regularly would not lead to a successful national team.
Mahama also outlined plans to overhaul Ghana’s football environment in collaboration with the GFA and local football associations. He pledged to provide resources for football galas at the district level to identify young talents, offer scholarships, send promising players to secondary schools, and support their growth to eventually represent the national teams.
The former President’s commitment to developing homegrown talent for the Black Stars is aimed at raising the standard of Ghanaian football and restoring the team’s competitiveness on the international stage. Ghanaian football enthusiasts and stakeholders will be eager to see how Mahama’s proposed initiatives unfold and whether they can contribute to the resurgence of the Black Stars as a force to be reckoned with in African and global football.
