Hundreds of football supporters protested in the streets of Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Wednesday, calling for improved football governance following their team’s elimination from the group stage of the current Africa Cup of Nations.
Protesters holding placards and donning black and red T-shirts with the slogan “Save Ghana football” marched through the city’s main streets, venting their annoyance at the Black Stars’ dismal results in recent big competitions.
Though they haven’t won a Nations Cup since 1982, Ghana has qualified for four World Cups and advanced to the quarterfinals in 2010.
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Coach Chris Hughton was fired by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) last month after the team earned two points from three games to finish third in Group B of the Nations Cup.
Hughton assumed the role of coach in March; his father was from Ghana. Prior to the Cup of Nations, he had been under fire and had only won four of his 13 games in command.
Kurt Okraku is in charge of the GFA, which is now hiring its fifth Blacks Stars coach in five years.
“Ghana football today is facing a dark spell in its history, an unprecedented moment that has brought global embarrassment to the brand that used to make all of us, home and abroad mighty proud,” the protesters said in a petition submitted to Parliament.
They claimed that the GFA had engaged in corruption and unnecessary spending during the competitions, and they requested that President Nana Akufo-Addo conduct an inquiry into Ghana’s involvement in the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Cup of Nations.
They also demanded reforms to the local league, more funding for youth football, and a national football policy.
“The clarion call is that we have a unique opportunity as a nation to make changes to our current structure that runs our football in our quest to whip the game back to where it belongs,” the petition said.
“Football belongs to us, not the GFA,” Saddick Adams, one of the lead conveners, said.
The GFA was not immediately available for comment.