Abedi weeps for Ghana football

Ghana legend Abedi Ayew Pele has expressed worry about the future of the Black Stars, following the lack of a succession plan for them.

In an interview with DAILY GUIDE SPORTS, the ex-Black Stars captain and Champions League winner hinted that the reality on the ground was that about 60 percent of the current crop had reached their peak, and would be bidding farewell to the global leather in the next few years.

His fear stemmed from the non-existence of a proper structure to feed the senior national soccer side, a situation which if not handled well, would have a telling effect on the team, which had become a major brand not only on the continent but the world at large.

Abedi bemoaned the FA’s misplaced priorities regarding juvenile soccer development to feed the senior side in the country.

“We go to juvenile tourneys – U-17 and U-20 – with the sole aim to win trophies, so the players who win the tournaments get contracts and in no time they vanish into thin air.

“The focus should be on developing players for the future that is the practice outside, so they go into tournaments to develop the players to feed their national teams. We don’t have a development plan, which is very sad, so we excel at the juvenile level but fail to win trophies at the highest level.

“Age is not on the part of most of the senior players, and my worry is, who takes over from them? Apart from Dede, who is playing in one of the top flight leagues, most of his colleagues who won the U-20 World Cup are struggling,” he added.

He advised that proper structures be put in place for juvenile soccer, a system that produced players such as himself.